


Pranks

by My0wnlittleworld247



Category: Bleach
Genre: AU, Angst, Fluff, Humor, Humour, Love, M/M, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-01
Updated: 2013-04-01
Packaged: 2017-12-07 04:18:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/744162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My0wnlittleworld247/pseuds/My0wnlittleworld247
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grimmjow and Ichigo get into a prank war, but one prank takes things a little too far, and their relationship is seriously jepordised as a result. Angst/Humour/Romance. Yaoi. MA. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

“Hey, what’s up?” greeted Nnoitra, poking his head into Ichigo’s dorm room.

“SShhh!”

“Hey Grimmjow! What’re yo—”

“SShhhhhhh!”

Nnoitra raised an eyebrow, lowering his voice, “What’re you doing?” he whispered, eyeing the blowhorn dubiously.

Grimmjow giggled insanely, strapping the blowhorn beneath the office chair with duct tape, “Ahaha, Ahah, come with me and shut up,” Answered Grimmjow, pulling the tall boy behind Ichigo’s bed, “he’ll be back any second.”

The boys crouched behind Ichigo’s bed, and just as had been predicted, Ichigo walked through the door, dumping his bag and falling into his chair, jumping at the burst of noise that followed, “What the fuck!?” cried Ichigo in alarm, shock turning to suspicion at the howling laughter coming from his bed.

Grimmjow and Nnoitra were violently shaking with fits of giggles, shit eating grins on their faces.

“Fuckers!” yelled Ichigo, flushing when he heard new laughter from the doorway, turning to find a group of students standing in his doorway.

“Ahaha!” panted Grimmjow, fighting to catch his breath, “Chill Ichi, we’re just playin’ with ya!”

“Ha! Funny!” replied Ichigo sarcastically, “come on asshole, we’re gonna’ be late!”

“Huh? Late for what?” asked Grimmjow, racking his brains.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” exploded Ichigo, “you forgot!?”

“Hmmmmmmmmmmm...” trailed the blue haired boy, tapping his chin as he looked to the ceiling comically.

“God damnit, we’re meeting Rukia and everyone at the bar tonight--”

“Oh yeah! I forgot about that!”

“Clearly,” muttered Ichigo unimpressed, grabbing his friend’s wrist and towing him away, “oh yeah, Nnoi, you wanna come?” asked Ichigo as an afterthought, remembering the lanky boy; he wasn’t a part of anyone’s group, but he was friends with everyone.

“Nah, I got homework” he complained.

“When’s that ever stopped you?” chuckled Grimmjow.

“When the homework’s due first thing tomorrow and I haven’t started... I haven’t even read the task sheet yet.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure your thick, thick skin will protect you from failing” sang Ichigo.

“Oh yeah, it’ll bounce right off!” agreed Grimmjow, laughing at Nnoitra’s visible annoyance.

“Hmph,” he huffed, “laugh all you like, but I really am extra durable!”

“haha, yeah sure, cya!” called Ichigo over his shoulder, the pair chuckling as they walked away.

\------------

“Gyahahahahahahaha! You’re kidding! And everyone came running to see what it was!?”

“Yup!” replied Grimmjow between laughs.

“I don’t see what’s so funny about it,” retorted Ichigo indignantly, “just an immature prank by an immature boy...”

“Watch who you’re calling a boy Ichi,” growled Grimmjow, “this boy’ll beat the shit out of you!” he threatened.

“Oh please, we all know you wouldn’t touch Ichigo, he’s like a princess to you!” proclaimed Rukia, pulling laughter from the group. Ichigo and Grimmjow bore their eyes into her.

“Who’re you calling a princess!” cried Ichigo, feigning insult.

“Who else?” asked Renji, “we all know you’re his precious angel. He’d probably cut an arm off for you!”

“But not his hair!” piped Orihime.

“Nah, then the girls’d see past his looks and realise they’re talking to a narcissistic loser” agreed Ikkaku.

“I think you mean _sleeping_ with a narcissistic loser, which is better than you can say!” retorted Grimmjow with good humour.

Ikkaku gasped loudly, a hand pressed to his chest in mock insult, “how cruel, you beast!”

“Wait, Grimmjow!” cried Ichigo, his hand also pressed his chest, “do you mean to tell me you _wouldn’t_ cut your hair off for me!? I thought you loved me!”

“Oh he loves you Ichigo, just not as much as his hair!” giggled Rukia, bringing the whole table to a fit of laughter, Ichigo wailing into his hands, pretending to cry.

“Seriously though, who does that!? Am I really surrounded by children?”

It took a moment for the group to realise he was referring to the blowhorn incident.

“You started it!” accused Grimmjow.

“No I didn’t! What’d I do!?”

“You did too! Last week you put that bucket of water above the door! I had to sit the lecture drenched coz fucking Mr. Aizen wouldn’t let me go change!” This earned another bout of laughter.

“Don’t see why not,” grumbled Ichigo, “that was meant for him anyway, but you just HAD to be late that day!”

“Doesn’t change the fact that it fucking got me!” yelled Grimmjow.

“Wait... you mean today was revenge? Seriously, you were getting payback?” asked Ichigo incredulously, staring at the blue eyed boy beside him, scowling when all he got was a shrug.

“Well two can play at that game!”

“Was that a threat?” asked Grimmjow.

“Maybe it was!”

“HAH!” barked the tall boy, “hope you’re prepared for some competition then!”

Everyone laughed again; things were always funny when these two started a competition.

\------------------------

Ichigo grunted at the effort of re-screwing the shower head back on, cursing the rust that flittered down.

He’d enlisted Renji’s help for the most part, but the red head had to run off to class about an hour ago, and Ichigo was left in Grimmjow’s dorm to complete his little mission alone.

Being Grimmjow’s best friend he knew the boy’s general timetable, but this had taken longer than he thought; it was finished now though, and all he had to do was wait.

He casually strolled out of the room, having to reign in his smile when he passed Grimmjow in the corridor, exchanging a lazy wave before making his way to his dorm.

He lay down on the bed, picking up his book from the bed stand, immersing himself in the story, losing all track of time.

Without warning Grimmjow burst through the door, dripping wet, stark naked, red rivulets trailing down his body. His face was a mask of pure hatred, eyes flashing at the sight of his friend holding his stomach in pain as laughter racked his body.

“Mother fucking son of a bitch!” he screamed, seething with fury.

“Ahahahaha! Gri-ahaha Grimmjow! Ahahahaha! You wanna- haha, you wanna put some- ha! Clothes on-?” questioned Ichigo falling from the bed with a thump.

“What the fuck _was_ that anyway?” he asked, unconcerned by his nakedness, “I thought I was bleeding, but it didn’t look real...”

“I put some cordial into your water system” he laughed, “you’re gonna have to leave all the taps on for a while to get it all out.”

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes fighting the quirk in his lips, trying not to be impressed as he stalked to the bathroom to wash the sticky liquid off.

He made his way to the shower, careful not to slip, turning the water onto full heat, letting it run over his tight muscles before adding some cold to soften the burn.

Running his hands through his hair he gave his situation serious thought, deciding on how to retaliate. He snatched Ichigo’s shampoo from the rack, pouring a hefty amount into his hair and rubbing, staring at the bottle as the worked away at the blue locks.

Suddenly he was hit with an idea, grinning like a wolf as he made his plans.

\-----

“Holy fuck what happened to my hair!?” screamed Ichigo, staring with horror at the mass of neon pink hair atop his head. Hastily he wrapped a towel around his waist, storming down the corridors, barging in on his friend, “Grimmjow you fucking ass! You fucking son of a—” he cut off as he realised what he’d just walked in on.

Grimmjow looked up from his place above the mortified girl, breaking the kiss to smile at his friend, bursting into laughter. The girl below him fought to escape, grabbing her clothes before running from the room, her face bright red.

Ichigo ignored her as she left, too furious to care, “tell me this isn’t permanent!” he demanded, dread filling his stomach when Grimmjow’s smile grew.

His eyes widened, jaw clenching along with his fists.

Grimmjow laughed harder at the boy’s expression, “I’m just messin’ with ya Ichi, it’ll wash out after ten washes” he assured the red head.

“TEN WASHES!? You mean I have to keep my hair like this for ten days!?”

“Oh riiiiight...we’re only allowed one shower worth of water each daaaaayyyy... sorry Ichi, guess you’re stuck like that,” he sniggered.

“Gyrah!” screamed Ichigo in frustration, storming out of the room, drawing looks from other students. He could feel their stares, hearing snippets of their conversations: “Ichigo Kurosaki”, “Why has he-”, “his hair-!”, “maybe he-”, “Grimmjow’s room”, “a towel!”. He ignored them, shutting his door in humiliation when he reached his room, changing into clothes before searching for some form of hat. He wasn’t a hat person... Oh _why_ wasn’t he a hat person!?

Huffing with defeat he braced him for the outside world, making a wild dash for Shinji’s room a few doors down.

“Ichigo... you...” trailed Shinji at the sight of his friend, “what have you done!?” he finally asked, “you had such a wonderful hair colour! Why would you do something like this!?” he demanded in disbelief.

Well, at least he wasn’t laughing.

“Shinji, its wash out don’t worry, but you can blame Grimmjow, not me.”

“Grimmjow? How’d he do this?” came a voice tight with laughter as Shuuhei poked his head around the corner his torso bare.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot you share a room with your boyfriend,” mumbled Ichigo, a light blush dusting his cheeks, turning his attention to Shuuhei, “I think he put something in my shampoo...”

“Heh, don’t worry, you weren’t interrupting anything” assured the blond at Ichigo’s obvious embarrassment, “so, whata ya want from me?”

“Uh, well I don’t own any hats...” trailed Ichigo awkwardly.

Shinji brightened at this, “Ooh! I’ve always said a hat would suit you!” he cried with delight, towing Ichigo to his bedroom, which was lined with racks of clothes. These small dorms didn’t have much space, but that wasn’t going to keep Shinji from his accessories.

He pulled out several different hats, deciding on a beige cap with a short brim and loose top.

“You... want me to look like a fashionably modern newspaper boy...?” asked Ichigo, his face dropping with disappointment. Shinji’s decisions about fashion were law; there was no getting out of this now.

“I’ll have you know that this is the height of fashion!” exclaimed Shinji indignant, “and you _will_ wear it!”

Ichigo sighed, he’d been through a million arguments with Shinji and never won a single one of them, and now he had to get to his morning lecture.

“Okay...” he sighed once more, ending the argument before it could begin, “I’ll wear it, thanks Shinji.”

The blond’s face lit up with a triumphant smile, waving goodbye to the boy before heading back to the bed with Shuuhei, where, unbeknownst to Ichigo, they _had_ been interrupted.

“Hmph, went with such a cliché...” muttered Ichigo as he stalked to his lecture, ignoring the stares. The hat covered most of his hair, but not all of it.

He would have to give some serious thought to his revenge.

He ignored Mr. Aizen’s snide remark as he took his seat, preparing himself for a day of torture.

\------------------

Grimmjow flopped casually onto the bed, chuckling to himself, proud of how his hair dye prank had worked out. Ichigo had bought his own beanie and taken off the stupid newspaper boy hat; his hair was almost orange, with only a hint of pink left. Grimmjow was disappointed that it was ending; it had been a hilarious week and a half, but all good things must come to an end. Now he was waiting for what Ichigo would throw at him next.

He pulled out his phone, scrolling down the contacts list until he arrived at Neliel’s name.

 _Hey beautiful, you want to watch to a movie tomorrow night?_ He texted.

 _Beautiful? It’s been a while since anyone’s called me that. I’d love to though, thankyou for asking me, it’s been too long since I saw you last._ Came the reply

“ _I find that hard to believe, I was only telling the truth. I’ve missed you too, I’m looking forward to tomorrow <3 _He sent back.

 _< 3 <3 _she replied, effectively ending the conversation.

\----------------------

The next night Grimmjow arrived at the movie theatre scanning the area for his busty date, jumping with surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder followed by his mother’s voice.

“Hello Grimmjow! It’s good to see you!” she sang, embracing her son.

“Mum! Uh, hi, what’re you doing here? Is dad with you?” he asked, searching for the tall figure of his father.

“No, he has work to do. What do you mean “What’re you doing here?” asked the middle aged woman, attempting a poor imitation of her son’s voice, “you invited me!”

Grimmjow stood there in confusion, pulled from his thoughts by the vibration of his phone, “ah, hold on a minute mum” he said before answering the phone.

 _“So, how’s your date going?”_ Asked Ichigo a smile in his voice.

Suddenly Grimmjow understood, free hand rubbing his temples as he sighed. He turned from his mother, lowering his voice, “You switched the names in my contacts, didn’t you?”

“ _Yup!_ ”

“Heh, that all you got? It’ll take more than that!” he informed his friend, hanging up the phone before the other could reply.

“Sorry mum, of course I know I invited you, I was just spaced out there for a bit. What movie do you wanna watch?” He asked, mourning his lost date, but he liked his mum, so all wasn’t lost.

They decided on a romantic comedy, a guilty pleasure that they only indulged in with each other; they had reputations to maintain after all.

The line was blessedly short, it being a Wednesday night, and they arrived that the counter, Grimmjow ordering the tickets, pulling his wallet from his jacket pocket.

He opened the leather vessel, confused surprise freezing his face as a red cylinder rolled out of his wallet landing on the floor with a muffled thud.

The woman knelt down to pick it up, ignoring Grimmjow’s fractured protests, she herself freezing when she realised what it was. She picked up the offending object by the attached string, walking stiffly to the bin to drop the red moisture filled tampon into it. She shot her son a dirty look, but all he could do was gape, completely unprepared for this, mortification washing over his features.

The man behind the counter coughed awkwardly, holding out their tickets.

As they walked away Grimmjow pressed the speed dial for Ichigo’s number, waiting fitfully for him to pick up.

 _Hello?_ Answered Ichigo, his voice far from surprised at the phone call.

“Fucking tell me that wasn’t real blood.” Whispered Grimmjow into the phone dangerously, tensing when he was met with silence.

After a moment of letting Grimmjow stew Ichigo replied with laughter, fighting to give a coherent reply, _Don’t worry, I’m just messing with ya!_ He repeated Grimmjow’s words back to him, _It’s red cordial... I had some left over._

The tall boy relaxed, dropping his shoulders with relief, angry and mortified as he was, he huffed a few unexpected laughs before the humour took a hold of him that he couldn’t shake, laughing like a mad man, finding the situation funny despite his humiliation, “fuck you.” He replied quietly into the phone, hanging up.

As they walked to the movie viewing room, the boy explained to his mum what had happened, relieved when she laughed along with him, their laughter echoing through the hall, drawing strange looks from passers by.

\---------------------

He arrived back late to the dorms, having walked his mother home, stopping off at a specialty store to buy a thankyou gift for Ichigo’s efforts.

He tapped lightly on Ichigo’s door, letting himself in. As he’d suspected, Ichigo was sat at his desk studying; he turned to look at his victim as he entered.

“So, how _did_ your date go?” he asked, that shit eating grin plastered to his face.

“Great, thanks for asking,” replied Grimmjow agreeably. Ichigo’s face dropped in suspicion, his eyes narrowed.

“What’s that?” he asked, nodding to the gift wrapped package Grimmjow held.

“Oh this? Just a thankyou present for the lovely night you organised for me” replied Grimmjow sweetly, offering the package to his friend.

Ichigo made no move to take it, trying to understand the situation. This was clearly a revenge prank, but to what extent?

“Don’t be so suspicious of me!” smiled Grimmjow, placing the box on the desk, before closing the gap between them quickly, taking Ichigo’s face in his hands, and moving in give a deceptively erotic open mouthed kiss, “Open the box” he whispered in Ichigo’s ear, revelling in the shocked expression of his friend before wordlessly leaving the room, closing the door silently behind him.

He giggled as he made his way to his own dorm. He was close enough to Ichigo to do such things, like being naked around him; they’re best friends, like brothers, so it doesn’t matter.

Back inside Ichigo’s room however, the red head hadn’t moved, frozen with shock. He raised his hand to his mouth, fingers trailing over his lips, turning his attention to the box. He began to unwrap it, pulling the object from inside. His eyes grew wide, blush covering his face with recognition.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

“Don’t be so suspicious of me!” smiled Grimmjow, placing the box on the desk, before closing the gap between them quickly, taking Ichigo’s face in his hands, and moving in give a deceptively erotic open mouthed kiss, “Open the box” he whispered in Ichigo’s ear, revelling in the shocked expression of his friend before wordlessly leaving the room, closing the door silently behind him.

He giggled as he made his way to his own dorm. He was close enough to Ichigo to do such things, like being naked around him; they’re best friends, like brothers, so it doesn’t matter.

Back inside Ichigo’s room however, the red head hadn’t moved, frozen with shock. He raised his hand to his mouth, fingers trailing over his lips, turning his attention to the box. He began to unwrap it, pulling the object from inside. His eyes grew wide, blush covering his face with recognition.

Heat flooded Ichigo’s face as he pulled out a dildo as bright a pink as Ichigo’s previous hair colour.

His grip slackened and the rubber toy fell from his grasp, bouncing on the floor. Ichigo stared at it blankly; he didn’t know what to do. He’d wanted to _kiss_ Grimmjow! More than just to turn the joke around, but to taste him, feel his lips moving against his, he’d wanted to slam him against the wall and take the offensive, and this little present wasn’t exactly deterring that course of action.

Luckily he had been frozen by confusion, filled with horror at his desires. Grimmjow didn’t mean anything by it, of that Ichigo could be certain, it was all a joke to the blue haired boy, and it ought to have been just a joke to him.

“Hmmmmm... maybe I’ve been neglecting myself recently...?” wondered Ichigo, thinking of any logical reason for his reaction. He hadn’t touched himself for a while, too caught up with school and Grimmjow’s pranks to really think about it. Yeah, that had to be it, he was feeling neglected. All he had to do was release the tension and this would all go away; he could pretend he’d never had those feelings.

He sat on the ground against his bed, ignoring the fallen dildo, unzipping his pants, reaching for himself. He hissed as he wrapped his hands around his only semi flaccid cock... It really had been a while.

In his mind he conjured up the image of the girl from the porno he’d watched a while back. In his mind’s eye he watched her writhing beneath the silver haired man, her face contorting into Ichigo’s favourite expressions. He loved her mostly for her expressions; she never held them back, and either every movie she was thrown into the flames of passion with that man, or she was a very, very good actress. He tried to remember the sounds she made; the smaller pants and mewls, broken at random with screams of pure ecstasy. , “Rangiku...” he panted to himself, confusion flooding his senses when his length remained soft.

He made a disgruntled sound; Rangiku Matsumoto was his favourite porn actress; she’d remained his celebrity crush for 6 years and had never once failed to bring him to orgasm.

Sighing he took a new approach, choosing a girl closer to home, settling on his first love, Orihime. He’d given his virginity to that girl, and they’d dated for half a year, truly believing that they were in love, but slowly the passion faded, and I the end they’d decided to end it together, remaining close friends to that day.

He tried to remember how soft the flesh of her breasts were, they were always the softest, smoothest part, having been protected from the weather for years. He remembered how he would run his fingers through her hair; how teasingly she’d take her time, positioning herself as she straddled him, lowering herself in leisurely torture. 

Ichigo grabbed the cream he kept in his bedside draw for such occasions, squeezing a hefty amount into his hand before continuing, speeding up his strokes, relieved to find himself reacting, but all the while aware that this was taking far longer than it usually did.

He sped up desperately, hand sliding along the organ with vigour, eyes screwed shut.

Suddenly, he was no longer inside his busty, orange haired ex, who had transformed into his best friend, hair turning blue, her soft body growing hard, shoulders broadening.

The tall boy leant in to kiss Ichigo again, mouths locking. Grimmjow pushed his tongue into Ichigo’s all too willing mouth, a hand sliding to meet Ichigo’s around his cock.

“Ngh!” grunted Ichigo as he released, throwing his head back against the bed. He opened his eyes wide, holding his cum covered hand before his face, watching it tremble mid-air, “fuck... oh, fuck, fuck _fuck!”_

“Why...? Damnit- _fuck!_ ” he rested his head against his clean hand, unsurprised to find a tear trailing down his arm. His horror filled him, body convulsing with silent sobs.

“Fuck...”

\--------------------

Grimmjow was still smiling at his little joke as he waited in line for his food; it had been two days, and still the thought amused him, unfortunately he hadn’t seen Ichigo recently to gloat at his win, they boy always had to be somewhere else, always had work to do, assignments to hand in, people to meet. It seemed as though his life had become somewhat busier than before, a pity; Grimmjow didn’t have much to do recently, he was disappointed that Ichigo was busy, they could have had some fun, messed around a bit, called some friends over.

A flash of orange caught his attention as he scanned the food court. Grinning he grabbed his food, making his way to the red head who was picking at his food, a serious look on his face, lost in thought. Grimmjow shook his head, _Left yourself wide open_ he rebuked his friend mentally, walking quietly behind the boy, wrapping his arms around from behind, “Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout Ichi?” he whispered in the boy’s ear, startled when said boy shot up from the table, knocking over his chair as he whipped around to face him.

“G-Grimmjow! I, uh, sorry, just remembered I’ve gotta be somewhere!” he cried, grabbing his untouched food, shoving it in the bin as he hurried out of sight.

“Again...?” asked Grimmjow, talking to himself, picking up the seat, “and was that... just now... was he blushing...?”

He sat down, starting on his hamburger, chewing his food in thought, _Is he avoiding me...?_ he wondered, brushing the thought off. If Ichigo had a problem he’d come to him eventually, either way, He was probably imagining thing decided Grimmjow, probably freaking out about something he forgot to do.

“What was _that_ about?” asked Renji, taking the seat opposite Grimmjow.

“Huh? Oh, nothing he just forgot to hand something in or something...”

“Really? Didn’t look like it to me... he was fine until you hugged him...” trailed Ikkaku, pulling a seat from a nearby table to join the conversation.

“Huh? Whataya mean...? And how much did you see?” asked Grimmjow, feeling uneasy.

“We were headin’ over here ourselves when we saw you swoop in, but he’s never acted like that before... I mean it was awkward to watch.”

“It’s fine, okay? He just forgot something, why read into it? Answered Grimmjow gruffly, he wanted this conversation to end.

“Grimmjow...” began Renji, looking awkward, “I know you guys are best buds an’ all... but you know I’ve known him longer... something doesn’t feel right. You sure you didn’t do something to piss him off or... I dunno... take things too far..?” Renji trailed off, he didn’t want to over step with bounds, but something was clearly going on with Ichigo, any moron could see that.

The two newcomers watched Grimmjow silently, who was studying the table, thinking,” well I mean we were messin’ with each other with the whole prank thing... but Ichi wouldn’t get mad over something like that...” mumbled Grimmjow, clearly unwilling to describe his latest prank to the pair.

Renji sighed, “Look, I’m not gonna ask what you did-”

“I didn’t fucking do anything!” yelled Grimmjow, drawing curious looks from the room.

“-but whatever it was, you’d better fix it.” He finished, ignoring the glare Grimmjow sent his way.

They ate in silence after that, Renji flicking curious glances at the blue haired boy. Grimmjow ate his food quickly, waving to the others as he walked off. He stopped off at Ichigo’s room on the way back, knocking on the door before letting himself in sighing when he found the room empty.

“Ichigo, you in there?” he called, knocking on the bathroom door, opening it when he received no answer.

He sighed, wondering where his friend was, closing the door behind him as he set off for his room.

Back in the room, Ichigo let go of the breath he was holding, rolling out from under his bed, a sigh falling from his lips, “Sorry Grimmjow...just... not today.”

Just then his phone rang, he flipped it open, unsurprised to find Grimmjow’s name displayed on the screen, taking a breath he pressed the answer button, bringing the phone to his ear,

“ _Hey Ichi, it’s Grimmjow, you free tonight?_ ” he asked, his tone hopeful.

“Uh... sorry Grimm, I promised Yuzu I’d be round for dinner tonight” he replied, guilt tugging at his heart for lying to his friend.

“ _Oh yeah, d’you think they’d mind if I tagged along?_ ”

Ichigo’s breath caught in his throat, sorrow building for his friend, who would never have normally asked to join, “... I think it’s just a family thing” he mumbled, feeling like a heel.

“ _Oh... well that’s too bad... what time are you getting back?_ ” he asked, his hope dashed.

“I’m staying the night” lied Ichigo.

“Oh, well, uh, see you round then...” he responded, disappointment ringing in his tone.

“Yeah, see you.” Ichigo hung up, guilt nagging at his mind, he hated treating his friend like that.

He sighed loudly, pulled from his reverie as his phone rang again, this time displaying Nel’s name, “Hey Nel, what’s up?” asked Ichigo.

“ _Hey Ichi! Nice prank you pulled by the way, I heard all about it from Grimm!_ ” she laughed, “ _You busy? I was hoping to go for a drink down at Urahara’s bar, they’ve got a 2 for 1 happy hour special going!_ ”

“Sorry, Nel, I’m heading off to visit my family in a minute, why don’t you ask Grimmjow, I haven’t been around much lately, I think maybe he’s lonely.”

“ _Lonely? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him lonely, are you sure?_ ” she asked dubiously.

“Not certain, but then I’ve always been with him 24/7 before, anyway, ask him for me, it’d do him good.”

“ _Hmm, well okay, I love Grimmy, but are you guys okay?_ ” she asked, worry colouring her tone.

Ichigo held back a sigh, Nel was too sharp, “Fine, just busy. Anyway, ask him for me, I gotta go Nel, See ya round.”

“Yeah, see ya!”

Ichigo hung up, he needed a drink. The sun had just set, the air struggling to retain its former heat, cooling rapidly. Ichigo head towards his favourite bar, a place he and Grimmjow used to go when they were alone; it was quiet there, just enough customers to keep the place afloat, not enough to encroach on his space, everyone minded their own business, and the bar was, most importantly, the complete other direction to Urahara’s bar.

He sunk into the bar stool, ordering a beer, running his fingers through his hair, chugging his drink down in one go.

He ordered another, nursing this one, more for comfort than for actual consumption. He didn’t like getting drunk alone and tried to avoid it when he could. He sat there for a while, sipping the amber liquid, until it was gone, ordering another in its place.

Suddenly the noise increased as a rowdy group entered the bar, laughing and joking with each other, enjoying their Friday night out.

“Grimmy! Cheer up, what’s wrong, you seem down~!” came a babyish voice from within the group.

Ichigo stiffened, turning slowly to get a better look at the crowd, blood running cold when he recognised a group of students, Nel and Grimmjow among the mix.

He  fumbled his money to the bartender, not waiting for change before taking his leave, hoping to slip away unnoticed.

“...Ichigo?” came a deep voice, high with confusion; a voice Ichigo had known for years.

_Shit._

He kept moving, picking up speed when he hit the sidewalk.

“Ichigo! Ichigo, wait up! Hey, Ichigo!” Grimmjow called behind him, speeding up with him.

Ichigo sped up more, his walk starting to resemble a jog, which upon hearing Grimmjow’s footsteps quicked, turned into a run, which turned into a sprint.

He turned the corner, racing down the lamp lit streets, cursing Nel, Why weren’t they at Urahara’s bar?

“Ichigo! Stop!” called Grimmjow, much closer now; he was the athlete after all, “Ichigo!”

Ichigo was losing speed as he ran, his breathing laboured, a sharp pain stabbing at his stomach.

Suddenly a large hand landed heavily on his shoulder, gripping firmly as he pulled the orange haired boy to a halt, pushing him against the wall to stop him from escaping.

“Ichigo, speak to me! Why are you avoiding me?” demanded Grimmjow through pants, hurt and fury marring his features.

“I’m not avoiding you—”

“And I’m the fucking Queen of England!” yelled Grimmjow.

“I’m not fucking avoiding you! Get off me already!” responded Ichigo angrily, jerking from Grimmjow’s grip only to be pushed into the wall again.

“Stop it! Damnit Ichigo!” Grimmjow could feel his throat tightening, supressing the tears he loathed so much. Nothing had ever bothered him this much, because whenever something did he’d bitch to Ichigo about it, have a few beers and forget about it; he always had a best friend to talk to and distract him from life, and he didn’t want to lose that, “What’d I do wrong? Was it the kiss? It was a joke, I’m sorry if it was a bad one! Why won’t you tell me?”

He released his grip as the red head stopped struggling, taking a step back out of his personal space.

“Fine! You wanna know why?” Ichigo exclaimed in a frustration, he hated the look of hurt on his friend’s face “because when you kissed me it was all I could do not to kiss you back! Because from that day on all I’ve been able to think about is you! Because even now when I’m near you I can feel my body reacting! Your stupid kiss is making me feel all this shit! And yet I know you’re completely straight, otherwise I’d have jumped you that fucking day!” exclaimed Ichigo, clenching his fists, his eyes lowering to the ground, “...And now... now that you know the truth, things will never be the same.” whispered Ichigo in despair.

Grimmjow hesitated, he wasn’t sure exactly what he thought about the situation, but he knew he didn’t want to lose his friend, “Ichi... things can be the same--”

“NO THEY CAN’T!” yelled Ichigo, “Things will never be the same! You’ll never be able to forget how I feel, it doesn’t matter how hard you try! And I’ll never stop feeling this way! Being near you... even if you were to make me hate you, my body and mind are separate, I can’t help how I react to you, and that alone is enough to make things awkward! Would you really feel comfortable staying the night at my place, knowing I might jump you at any second? Would you talk to me about your relationship problems like you always do? Would you still be alright with changing in front of me, knowing that I’m looking at more than your tattoo? ...How could anything be the same?”

The blue haired boy stood there in shock, eyes wide, mouth agape. He could feel his eyebrows slowly pulling together, his face crumpling in frustrated thought. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

Ichigo sighed, his face tight with sorrow as he turned to leave, walking away.

“huh, Wait!” cried Grimmjow, “Ichi, wait a minute!” Ichigo stopped, turning to face his friend, “uh... um, I...” began Grimmjow.

He didn’t want his friendship to end, he didn’t want Ichigo to walk out of his life; to be honest, he hadn’t really expected Ichigo to stop, but he had, and Grimmjow still didn’t know what to say. His protests died on his lips; what could he say at a time like this?

Ichigo looked away again, his expression pained, before turning once more, walking out into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so fucking original! Oh my God, I bet NO-ONE else ever thought of a dildo as a present! Bwahahaha1 I'm a genius!
> 
> Okay, yeah, let's not even ask, 'kay?
> 
> Sooo, things are angsting up around here, but what can this mean? How am I going to fix this dilemma? Is it even fixable!? D: Well stay tuned kids, all your questions will be answered after the break!
> 
> Wait... you think a dildo as a present was... unoriginal? How dare you! That’s the most original plot twist I’ve ever heard of!   
> Anyway, don’t know how I feel about this, I’m kind of happy with it, but anxious about how it’s gonna go down with you fine folk. 
> 
> If you liked it, please make sure to add this to your alert, if you haven’t already that is.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it so far :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ichigo sighed, his face tight with sorrow as he turned to leave, walking away.

“Huh, Wait!” cried Grimmjow, “Ichi, wait a minute!” Ichigo stopped, turning to face his friend, “uh... um, I...” began Grimmjow.

He didn’t want his friendship to end, he didn’t want Ichigo to walk out of his life; to be honest, he hadn’t really expected Ichigo to stop, but he had, and Grimmjow still didn’t know what to say. His protests died on his lips; what could he say at a time like this?

Ichigo looked away again, his expression pained, before turning once more, walking out into the night.

As soon as Ichigo turned the corner he burst into a wild sprint, shame burning his cheeks at the tears running from his eyes, turning corner after corner, amazed when he passed the bar. He’d been running aimlessly, how could he not be lost?

“Oof!” he cried as he ran into a very tall, apparently solid shadow, flinging them both into the ground.

“Ichigo?” came a familiar voice.

 _Shit_ thought Ichigo, recognising the voice, pushing off the ground to leave, crying in pain out as the figure grabbed his wrist, pulling him back.

“Ichigo, what’s wrong? ...You’re bleeding!” exclaimed Nnoitra, “heh, see, you’re not as durable as I am!” he chuckled before noticing the tears, “Ichigo, you okay?” he asked, his tone suddenly serious.

“I’m fine” mumbled Ichigo, not meeting Nnoitra’s eyes, pulling his arm back.

“No you’re not! Come on Ichi, the dorms aren’t far, I’ll fix you up.”

“I said I’m fine!” spat Ichigo gruffly, embarrassment mixing with the hurt, standing up once more.

“No you’re fucking not!” argued Nnoitra, grabbing Ichigo’s arm again, this time joining him at a stand.

“I’m--”

“You’re bleeding, okay? You’re coming back with me to fix that cut whether you like it or not” Nnoitra shot back, towing Ichigo back towards his apartment. He wasn’t taking “no” for an answer.

“Nnoitra, I’m fine, it’s just a graze!” protested Ichigo, trying futilely to wipe the tears from his face.

“Ichigo... I won’t ask you what just happened... I saw Grimmjow go after you, I can guess it’s got to do with him... I won’t ask, so come on, I have a First Aid kit back at mine, but you don’t have one, do you?” the tall boy reasoned, knowing from previous experience that Ichigo had no First Aid kit back at his place, “better I see you like this, as I’ve already seen it, than you have to go show other people when searching for one.”

Ichigo looked away, still looking undecided, but following willingly, if grudgingly.

Nnoitra’s dorm room was in a separate building to Ichigo’s and Grimmjow’s, which was a relief to Ichigo, who was beginning to think that maybe he was lucky to have run into Nnoitra; he really didn’t want to run into Grimmjow right now, dreading the conversation that would come when Grimmjow finally decided how he felt.

They stepped inside, Nnoitra guiding the red head to sit on the bed before moving toward the kitchen, fumbling in the solitary cupboard.

“You wanna stay the night? You don’t wanna’ run into Grimmjow, do ya? You can stay here,” offered Nnoitra, as though reading his mind.

Ichigo nodded, forcing a smile, “thanks,” he said, surprising Nnoitra with his lack of argument.

“Hey, you sure you’re okay?” asked the pale boy, kneeling in front of the boy, wiping the gash free of gravel with a wet cloth.

“I don’t wanna’ talk about it Nnoitra, you said you wouldn’t ask.” Ichigo mumbled, wincing at the sting of the cut.

“Yeah yeah, cut’s not as bad as it looked, the blood built up, making it look a bit gory, but it’ll be fine with just a bandaid.” He replied, changing the subject, pulling a large rectangular bandaid from the First Aid kit, peeling the wrapper off before carefully smoothing it over the cut. He pulled back to inspect his work satisfied before packing the First Aid kit away, grabbing two beers from the fridge on his way back.

“Here, the cure for any a bad mood,” he said, passing one to Ichigo.

“Alcohol’s good for a bad mood? It works as a depressant,” mumbled Ichigo, accepting the drink anyway.

“Only when you’re drinking alone! When you’re with friends it cheers you up!” Ichigo was informed. He didn’t agree with that statement, but let it slide; he needed a drink.

“... So what’re you doing for the summer Holidays?” asked Nnoitra, already aware of Ichigo’s plans.

Ichigo stiffened, his expression darkening; he and Grimmjow had been planning to go to the alps to learn how to ski, “I don’t know...” he said at last; Summer holidays were still a month away, anything could happen in that time.

“You haven’t got any plans?” probed Nnoitra, gouging the extent p the assumed argument.

“...Kind of, but I’m not sure what’s happening with that” he replied noncommittally, finishing his beer and padding to the fridge to grab another.

Ichigo... you were at the bar before weren’t you? How many did you drink then?” asked Nnoitra, he didn’t want to drink Ichigo into a drunken stupor.

Ichigo glanced sidelong at Nnoitra, protecting his beer, “... I had three... no, two and a half...”

Nnoitra smiled, judging from previous experience he knew that four and a half beers should just about do it, “Ichigo... are you okay?”

Ichigo started to laugh, which he found quite difficult around the beer bottle between his lips, choking on the fluid that ran into his lungs, spluttering laughs dying slowly, face falling until all traces of humour had left, replaced by depression.

To Ichigo’s horror he felt warm drops fall onto his hands, silent sobs shaking his body, catching in his throat. He fought to keep them in, rubbing a hand roughly across his eyes.

Nnoitra couldn’t help it, he was always the supportive type; usually he could channel his compassion into verbal advice and encouraging. Slowly he wrapped his arms around the red head, resting his head on Ichigo’s, holding him even after the sobs died away.

Ichigo stiffened in more ways than one, heat spreading over his cheeks. He was pressed up against the tall boy, Nnoitra’s loose black hair brushing his face.

 _Holy Jesus fuck... is that... am I..._ Ichigo’s eyes widened in realisation, frozen in disbelief.

“Ichi? You okay?” asked Nnoitra.

“Nnoitra... I’m gay...” trailed Ichigo in disbelief, turning his head up to face the tall boy, depression dissolving into joy, “I’m gay! Nnoitra, I’m gay!” he cried out, pulling away to start pacing the room.

“... Um... good for you...?”

“No, I mean I’m gay!” cried Ichigo again.

“... Yeah, I got that the first three times you said it... why’s that such a good thing...?” asked Nnoitra, completely baffled by Ichigo’s outburst.

“Look, I’m hard!” he motioned to his groin, embarrassment forgotten, “I’m hard because of you! I’m gay! That means it’s not just Grimmjow! We really _can_ go back to the way things were! Nnoitra, I’m gay!” yelled Ichigo, his smile blindingly wide.

“Ohh... so that’s what was going on...” commented Nnoitra, finally understanding, “you know you’ve had everyone worried. None of them had seen you two have an argument that lasted more than 10 minutes before.”

“I’m gay...” was all Ichigo said in return, off in his thoughts.

“...Okay, you’re gay, wanna’ make it official?” offered Nnoitra, smirking when Ichigo whipped his head around, shock written over his face.

“You mean...?” Ichigo asked, receiving a nod, “but I’m gay...”

“... yes I see that...” said Nnoitra, referring to Ichigo’s groin, a baffled expression on his face, “That’s why I’m offering...don’t gays tend to go with _guys_...?”

Ichigo stared at his baffled, “but _you’re_ not gay, you have a reputation for being a lady killer.”

“I go both ways” said Nnoitra with a shrug.

“Oh...”

“So d’ya wanna’?” he asked again, trailing a finger lightly across the bulge in Ichigo’s pants, smirking when Ichigo grabbed himself at the feeling, unintentionally trapping Nnoitra’s finger, blushing when he let him go, “since you’re clearly interested.”

“...Sure... I hadn’t expected you to ask... but yeah, I am gay after all...” Ichigo trailed off.

 Neither of the boys were virgins, not by any stretch of the imagination, both of them had had their share of one night stands, while also plenty serious relationships, though Nnoitra had had substantially more one night stands, and Ichigo far more serious relationships.

“Good, because your little proclamation about my making you hard has given me a little problem of my own,” he informed Ichigo, pulling the orange haired boy’s hand to rest on his own erection, a muffled sound of surprise escaping when Ichigo proceeded to undo his pants, slipping his hand beneath the fabric and squeezing gently.

“You’re not shy, I like that” growled Nnoitra, pushing Ichigo on his back, leaning in for a kiss. Ichigo flinched, sharply turning his head to the side, “...what happened to that confidence you just had...?”

“Uh... sorry, I just... I’m not used to... kissing guys...” Ichigo replied, steadying his nerves before leaning to press his lips against Nnoitra’s, opening his mouth into the kiss. He had to stop himself from backing away as Nnoitra’s unnaturally long tongue slid into his mouth, dominating the kiss, a new sensation; he wasn’t used to submitting. He let Nnoitra take the lead, allowing the boy to undress him, his own fingers fumbling in his mission to free the tall boy of his clothes.

Nnoitra couldn’t help laugh to himself at Ichigo’s situation, to be completely willing and prepared for sex, yet still be a virgin in so many respects, trying his best to overcome his nervousness. It was charming, a refreshing change from the kind of people he usually slept with.

He gave the boy a hand, deftly running his fingers along the cloth, undoing the buttons quickly, slipping the last item off of his shoulders.

“You know how this works?” he asked the orange haired boy.

“Mostly... from common sense and the internet... but I’ve never done it before so I don’t... uh, you might have to... uh...”

“Heh, teach you?” supplied Nnoitra, an amused grin on his face, “don’t worry, Ichi, you’ll pick it up,” he assured the boy, leaning in close to his ear, “and don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”

Ichigo stiffened, feeling a finger rub against his entrance, quickly sitting up, eyes wide in alarm, “What’re you doing? I’m a man!”

Nnoitra sighed, “Ichigo, we’ve been through this, you’re gay remember? That means you have sex with other men.”

“No, I mean... I’m a _man_!”

“...Well done... you’re a man. Are you having second thoughts?” he asked annoyed, pulling away from Ichigo, a sigh evident in his voice, “You picked a killer time for it.”

“No! I mean, _I’m a man!_ ” cried Ichigo in vain.

Nnoitra struggled to keep his temper in check, “Thankyou Ichigo, do you have anything relevant to say that you haven’t already? Coz’ otherwise I’ll go get you a spare blanket-”

“Spare blanket? Nnoitra, I mean...” trailed off Ichigo, clearly frustrated, “...I’m not a woman...”

Nnoitra’s eyebrow twitched as he fought not to make sense of Ichigo’s rambling, eyes widening with sudden understanding, “...Wait, you don’t mean... do you mean you... thought you were gonna’ top?” he asked incredulously.

“Oh, is that what you call it...” mumbled Ichigo, “well yeah, I’m a man after all...”

Nnoitra couldn’t help it, his annoyance disappeared, replaced by a bout of laughter, holding his hand to his forehead as he laughed at the ceiling, head titled back.

“You couldn’t have chosen a better way to say it!?” he questioned, still chuckling to himself.

“Hmph, see if you do better in that situation” replied Ichigo indignant.

“Ichi, I _have_ done better in that situation, and I was more of a virgin that you are,” he informed the boy, “but back to the question, you really think you’re gonna’ top?” he asked disbelievingly.

“I _am_ a man after all!” cried Ichigo.

“Yes, yes, we’ve established that now I think. Maybe you don’t understand how gay relationships work... basically, there are _two_ men... I’m _also_ a man, believe it or not. My point being, it’s not about whether you’re a man, but whether you’re the more dominant man; I prefer to establish that through the kiss, did I not dominate that kiss in an instant? The next sign is to look at who you’re attracted to, so far you’ve liked me and Grimmjow right? We’re both without a doubt Seme material-”

“Seme?” interrupted Ichigo, confused.

“Uh... well, it’s more a popular label, Seme and Uke, the Seme is the dominant, and the Uke is the submissive.” He explained, “So we’re both Seme material, now think of that kid... what’s his name, you went to highschool with him... uh... Mizaro? Matsuro?”

“Mizuiro Kojima?” asked Ichigo. Why had the conversation turned to his high school, womanizing friend.

“Right! The short one with big eyes and black hair right?”

“That’s the one-”

“Well then? You attracted to him? Asked Nnoitra.

“Huh!? Why-?”

“Just answer the question” he demanded impatiently.

“Uh, well... no... that’s just... weird.” Trailed Ichigo, unsure of what Nnoitra was getting at.

“Well he’s pure Uke material. Yeah, I know he goes for older women, but forget his personality, most Seme would get _something_ from him, or people who look like him: short, slender, doe eyed, cute, the kind of boy to scream and blush below you. And _that_ is how you tell if you’re a dominant or submissive!” finished Nnoitra, rather pleased with how smoothly his explanation had gone.

“But then... I’m not short or doe eyed... I’m not your description of an Uke,” he argued, determined to persist.

“No, but you fit the description of someone who prefers Seme, which makes you the Uke.”

“But I... so I don’t look exactly like an Uke, but not and obvious Seme either...?” he asked, catching up.

“Yeah, there’re a few people who you can’t tell from looks, a bit like that friend of yours who like older women... you wouldn’t think it from looking at him, right? Well, same for you.”

“Oh... are you _sure_ I’m not Seme material...? I’m not so sure about being the... Uke...” he commented, eyeing Nnoitra’s uniquely long length.

“Heh, well I don’t bottom, so if you change your mind... but you can _try_ to dominate the kiss if you like,” he offered peaceably.

The orange haired boy nodded, leaning forward to lock his lips around Nnoitra’s, pushing his tongue inside, instantly on the offensive. The slick muscles slid over each other, Nnoitra quickly overpowering Ichigo, pushing him onto his back, reaching down to tweak a nipple, making the fair haired boy cry out, grinding his erection into the tall boy’s groin.

Ichigo didn’t give up without a fight, fisting Nnoitra’s hair and pulling him closer, saliva running from the corners of their mouths, but soon enough they had to break for air, both panting as they released each other.

“I’m impressed, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a proper competition,” he winked, causing a blush to spread across the panting boy’s face.

Slyly he reached down between Ichigo’s naked legs, grasping his length lightly, teasing him, “you’re sure you want to stop now? I have no intention of letting you top...” he informed the boy sadly, a smile hidden in his voice as he rubbed his thumb along the tip, slender fingers twining around the shaft masterfully, “you’re absolutely certain?”

“Ah! Nnoi- ah! Okay! Oh God, okay!” agreed Ichigo, breaking, “but you said you’d be... I mean it’s not gonna’... hurt, is it?” he asked, nervously.

“Heh, Ichigo, give me some credit, it’s not my first time doing this,” he assured the boy, “there are many ways to prepare beforehand, and I certainly don’t have these long fingers for nothing.”

Ichigo gulped, he didn’t know what he meant, but his tone of voice was devilish.

“As long as it doesn’t hurt,” was all he said, wrapping his arms around Nnoitra’s head, pulling him down on top of him.

“If you like.”

Nnoitra leant into for another kiss, less demanding this time, leaning over to retrieve a bottle or lubricant from the top draw of his side table. Without breaking the kiss he squeezed the substance onto his fingers, reaching down to prod a finger against Ichigo’s entrance, letting him know he was there, before sliding a single long finger inside.

Ichigo gave a protest, muffled by Nnoitra’s mouth as the boy added a second finger, sliding in and out.

“Ah! Nnoitra! That feels- Nn... It feels...” he panted, clinging to Nnoitra’s shoulders as the other boy stretched him, taking his time to let Ichigo become used to the feeling.

“Doesn’t hurt, does it?” asked Nnoitra, adding another finger at the shake of Ichigo’s head.

“Nnoitra! Uhh! Why are you... Your fingers...!” breathed Ichigo, toes curling into the blankets.

“I’m preparing you, stretchin’ you little by little, otherwise it’ll hurt when I take you” he explained, pulling out at three fingers; his cock was long, but it wasn’t very thick, Ichigo didn’t need to be stretched that far.

Ichigo blushed at his words, aware and prepared for what was to come but embarrassed all the same.

Nnoitra quickly slicked up his erection with the left over fluid, lining himself up against Ichigo’s opening, sliding inside easily.

“...That wasn’t so-OH!” cried Ichigo as Nnoitra kept pushing deeper still, his length reaching further than Ichigo was prepared for. Ichigo couldn’t help fisting the blankets, eyes wide at the new sensation. It didn’t hurt, Nnoitra had prepared him well, but fuck did it feel weird.

Nnoitra smirked smugly, pulling out again before pushing back in, arching Ichigo’s back in a silent scream as he rubbed against his prostate, speeding up.

“Oh my...! Nnoitr—AH! Ah!” he cried, gasping in pleasure.

Nnoitra increased the strength behind his thrusts, causing the bed to rock, bumping lightly against the wall.

Ichigo wrapped an arm around the tall boy, the other reaching between his legs to join Nnoitra’s, which was pumping firmly along the engorged flesh.

 Ichigo couldn’t believe he was having sex with Nnoitra, the feeling of having something so far inside of his was new and strange, but Ichigo could tell he was truly gay... he wanted this to happen again sometime.

Nnoitra grunted with effort, forcing himself over and over into the boy, amused by the look of extreme euphoria over Ichigo’s face. The boy really _did_ look like a virgin.

“Oh my God, Nnoitra...” he chanted, he could feel the heat coiling in his abdomen, waiting for that moment when it could escape.

Nnoitra had such a long cock, slender too, Ichigo couldn’t help wonder how Grimmjow would feel; he’d seen the boy naked a billion times, Grimmjow wasn’t as long, but much thicker, the wider girth promising a larger stretch...

And that was it, Ichigo was done, “G-Grimmjow....!” he groaned as he orgasmed, white fluid coating their hands and stomachs.

Nnoitra scowled but was too far gone to complain, reaching his own orgasm inside the boy, thick ropes of come exploding from him.

Ichigo was bright red, humiliation mixed with pity for the other boy; to have a partner say someone else’s name at the climax... It had happened to him once before, and he’d been so humiliated that he’d run off. The feelings inadequacy had lasted for weeks.

“Nnoitra... Oh fuck, Nnoitra I didn’t mean that...” he attempted to explain, lost for words.

“Well, so much for being just gay, seems to me like you have a thing for Grimmjow after all” Nnoitra remarked; it was his turn to pity the boy as he watched his face fall, frustration radiating from him.

“I guess so... but it was still... I mean you were...” he tried to explain again, desperation in his eyes as he looked to Nnoitra for the words.

Then he stiffened, suddenly realising that they were still connected, blushing as he awkwardly pulled away, relaxing when Nnoitra slipped out of him.

“Don’t worry about it Ichi, not the first tie it’s happened. Besides, I wasn’t after your feelings anyway, this was just a onetime thing.” He replied.

“Yeah, but it still must feel like shit.” Muttered Ichigo, lying down, surprised when Nnoitra’s arm swung loosely over him, his lithe form spooning him from behind.

“Not really” he shrugged, “so, what’re ya gonna do about that whole Grimmjow fetish you’ve got going there?”

“G-Grimmjow fetish!? It’s not a fetish! It’s a... a... like a... a crush...? I dunno, but it’s not a fetish!” cried Ichigo indignant.

“Okay, okay! It’s not a fetish” laughed Nnoitra, “but what’re you gonna do?”

“Dunno...” replied Ichigo, a yawn racking his body, “I’ll think about that tomorrow...”

“You sure you don’t wanna talk about it? While it’s fresh in your mind an all? ...Ichigo?” Nnoitra peeked over Ichigo’s shoulder, huffing a laugh when he realised the boy was asleep, “Seriously, if I didn’t know better I really would think you were a virgin.”

Just then came a knock on the door, “Nnoitra? You there? Is Ichigo with you? He’s not in his room...” called Grimmjow from outside.

“Yeah, come in” Nnoitra called back.

Grimmjow let himself in, stopping with shock when he found Nnoitra and Ichigo lying naked together, the red head asleep.

“What--! ...Is Ichigo...? Did you guys...?” asked Grimmjow, lost for words, unsure of what he was eve asking.

“Have sex? Yeah, Ichigo decided he was gay”

“Uh, sorry, I’ll just go,” mumbled Grimmjow turning to the door.

“Hold on! You’re not gonna’ ask why he had sex with _me_ when he said he had a thing for _you_?”

“He told you that!?” Grimmjow cried, shocked.

“More or less.”

“Well... are you guys...I mean... like a...”

“A couple? Are we dating?” asked Nnoitra, “Nah, don’t worry, he knew it was a onetime thing when we started, we’re not together or anything” he assured the blue haired boy with a wink, amused at the relief that surged from his body, followed by the blush.

“Right... well I guess I’d better go...”

“You know he likes you,” Grimmjow was informed, stopping in his tracks.

“How do you know? Beside him telling you, how could you know!?” Grimmjow demanded; he was kind of hurt that Ichigo had slept with Nnoitra, but he couldn’t decide why.

“Well, let’s just say it wasn’t my name he screamed at the end...”

This got Grimmjow’s attention, his eyes widening, face flooding with heat, “He screamed my name when he...?”

The tall boy nodded, grinning.

“...I don’t know what to do” admitted Grimmjow, sinking to the ground, “I’m not gay... but he’s... and he’s my best friend....”

“He really likes you Grimmjow, he was so happy when he realised that he was just gay, that he didn’t have to ruin your relationship... turns out he was wrong, but he was happy while it lasted.” He smiled, appraising how Grimmjow was taking it: he seemed to be numbed by the news.

“What should I do...?” he asked, lost.

“Well if you ask me you should catch this little boy alone and fuck his brains out... he was really good, and I’ve already prepared his innocent little mind for you” he smiled sweetly.

“...You seriously think I should... with Ichigo...”

“Yeah, you like him don’t you?” probed Nnoitra, curious about Grimmjow’s feelings.

“What!? As a friend! He’s just... he’s just a friend...”

“That’s really all he is to you? You couldn’t see yourself with Ichigo in the future?”

“Well... I mean, if I _were_ gay... he’s good looking and all... but I don’t look at him like that... he’s a friend.”

Ichigo mumbled something incoherent, causing the pair to stiffen, relaxing when he quietened once more.

“Why don’t you think about it? Things are gonna’ stay as awkward as they are now until you guys decide anyway” he advised.

“Grimmjow...” mumbled Ichigo again. The blue haired boy stiffened, frozen at the sound of his name, a blush creeping over his face. Ichigo had just mumbled his name in his sleep... after sex sleep!

Ichigo struggled to open his eyes, waking at the sound of voices, “Grimmjow...?”

“Uh, I better go,” whispered Grimmjow, shooting out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.

“Grimmjow?” asked Ichigo again.

“Nah, just me I’m afraid” replied Nnoitra, chuckling to himself as the orange haired boy fell asleep one more, snuggling against him, dreaming of his best friend.

\--------------------------

“So Itsygo, are you going to tell me what’s happening between you and Grimmjow or not!?” demanded Nel, her voice more playful than usual, brought out by the alcohol.

“There’s nothing going on-”

“There’s _something_ going on! You two had a fight! You guys never fight! I mean you _always_ fight, but this is different, you’re avoiding eachother!” she cried, grabbing Ichigo by the collar, pulling him closer, “tell meeeeeee!!!” she whined.

“Tellme! Tell me! Tell meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!”

“Nel, I’m not going to tell you... this is something I have to figure out on my own.” He stated solemnly.

“Hmph!” she pouted dramatically, arms crossed, “Grimmjow would have told me!”

“Then go ask Grimmjow,” Ichigo replied, annoyance bubbling to the surface.

“Ichi! Nel! How’re ya?” greeted Nnoitra, sidling from across the room to join them.

“Hey Nnoitra, not bad, yourself?” greeted Ichigo back.

“Yeah yeah, doin’ jus’ fine!” he replied, voice dangerously close to a slur.

Nel sat in discomfort, a scowl on her pretty face, studiously ignoring the tall boy.

“Nel, how’re ya?” asked Nnoitra again, his wide mouth pulled into a knowing grin.

Nel glanced icily at him, saying nothing, before turning her attention back to the bar surface.

“Well, I can see when I’m unwelcome, C’ya Ichi!” he waved, sauntering off.

“What was that all about?” Asked Ichigo, baffled by Nel’s behaviour, “I though everyone liked Nnoitra...”

“Clearly not” she replied sharply, hesitating at the shock on Ichigo’s face, “sorry, we have some history... Ichigo... you aren’t _very_ close to him are you?”

“...Not really...” answered Ichigo carefully. How much did she know?

“Well don’t get too close, he’s a bad person. He’ll use you then throw you away, you understand! Don’t get too close to him!”

“O-okay... I’ll be careful around him,” he assured the girl, relieved when he calmed down.

“Let’s go, I don’t want to be in the same room as him,” she said, “come on, Itsygo.”

They made their way to her apartment; she didn’t attend the same University as Ichigo and his friends, but rented an apartment nearby, in between hers and theirs.

“Where’s Peachie... and Dondon...?” asked Ichigo, referring to Nel’s flat mates as he pet her dog, Bawabawa.

“Pesche and Dondochakka went to visit their family for the weekend” she explained, “I’m all alone... except for Bawabawa! He’s here to keep me company!”

She ruffled the animal’s fur on her way to the fridge, pulling out a platter of brightly coloured shots.

“Ooooh! Let’s play truth or dare!” she decided suddenly, feeling like a genius for thinking of it; she wanted to know Ichigo’s secret after all.

“Nah, not really in the mood...”

“Well get in the mood!” she demanded, “because we’re _going_ to play it!”

Ichigo sighed; there was helping it when she was like this.

“Okay! Truth or dare?” she asked, her tone becoming comically serious.

“Truth” said Ichigo automatically.

“What’s going on with you an Grimmjow?

Ichigo sighed, rolling his eyes, “dare.”

“Hmph! Fine, I dare you to... hmmm... let me do your makeup! And you have to keep it on for the rest of the night!” she proclaimed, towing him to her bedroom.

She laughed at Ichigo’s blush when he noticed the bras flung around the room, amongst other clothes, “Come on, sit down at my dresser... okay!”

She picked up the eyeliner, drawing expertly atop the upper lid, “Stop squirming!” she demanded as she turned to the other eye, building up the eyeliner at each top outer corner.

Next she picked up the mascara, swiping across each row of lashes, both upper and lower, building the sediment until they were remarkably longer than before.

“Next is...” she mumbled to herself, giggling as she swiped the blush across his cheeks, choosing her brightest pink and over applying.

“Oooh! The final touches!” she exclaimed, giggling at Ichigo’s scowl, “now make an O with your lips! Not like that! Lie this!” she demonstrated, gliding the oily lipstick across his lips when he complied, “And we’re done!” she giggled some more, “Now let’s dress you up!”

“No fair!” cried Ichigo indignantly, clinging to the last of his pride, “you said I had to let you do my make-up, not play dress-ups!”

“Hmph! Fine, I’ll just get you next time... unless you want to choose truth...”

Ichigo scowl deepened, glaring at the pretty green haired girl; she was enjoying this too much.

“It’s my turn, truth or dare?” he challenged, vowing not to let her off easy.

“Truth.”

“Okay... let me think about this for a second...” trailed Ichigo, thinking his hardest, “Ooh! I’ve got it! How about: You’re lover’s been turned into an animal and the only way to restore them is to mate with them! Which animal would you choose that they be!?”

“Eewwwww! Oh my god Itsygo! Who thinks of that!?” she screamed with disgust, staring at him with disbelief.

“Well?” he asked, curious to hear her answer.

“I think I’d let them stay an animal!” she exclaimed.

“Aww, answer the question!” he insisted.

“... ugh... well... I suppose... a... goat...?” she asked, uncertain.

“A _goat_!? Of all the animals in the world, you chose a _goat_!?”

“I like goats!” she protested his tone.

“Enough that you wanna’ fuck em’?”

“No! I had to choose one! So I chose goat! Why, what would you have chosen!?”

“I don’t have to tell you” he replied, nose in the air.

“Fine! Truth or dare!?” she demanded, suddenly serious. It was payback time.

“...Dare.”

“Okay, dare.” She replied sweetly, an evil glint to her eye, “Dress up in girl’s clothes to match your pretty make-up, and go door knocking! But when they answer ask them if they want to hire your... services for the night!”

“What!?”

 _Ooh! I like it!_ She thought sadistically, towing him one against to her bedroom and pulling out a bras, two T-shirts, and a clingy black dress.

“Put this on” she ordered, continuing to search through her wardrobe as he changed into the dress that barely covered his ass, stuffing the bra with the shirts.

She re-emerged once again, holding a pair of fishnet stockings and passing them to him before readjusting his neckline to be a little more revealing, showing the shirts beneath the dress.

He hopped around as he tried to pull on the stockings, managing only with Nel’s help. When he was done she gave him a once over; she would never usually wear those clothes together... they made him look like a real whore.

“Perfect!” she declared, passing him a pair of her heels, disappointed when his feet were too big, “Hmmm, oh well, you’re tall enough as it is.”

She pulled him to the door, pushing him into the hallway, motioning for him to knock on the door, watching from the doorway as he did so.

Ichigo knocked awkwardly, hoping that no-one was home, heart sinking when the door was opened, a scantily clad blonde girl opening the door, “Who is it Lillinette? Drawled a lazy voice as a shoulder length brunette man sauntered up behind her.

“Uh... h-hello, I was wondering If... either of you would be interested in... purchasing my... services for the night...?” mumbled Ichigo at a stutter, staring decidedly at the ground.

“Can I Starrk? Please, can I?” begged the girl, Ichigo shooting rod straight at the thought that someone might actually try to purchase his services

“... I don’t think he’s being serious...” commented the tall man lazily, eyeing Ichigo’s long, fishnet clad legs all the same.

“But he _asked_ us! Of course he’s being serious!” she cried.

“Uh, actually... uh, Nel, uh, she... uh, she...” stuttered Ichigo in an attempt to explain, saved when Nel burst into a fit of laughter, breaking her cover.

“See Lillinette? It was a dare.”

“Oh...” she mumbled, disappointed, turning to Ichigo, “I would have hired your services.” She informed his solemnly before closing the door in his face.

Ichigo was bright red right up to his hairline, glaring at Nel who giggled madly at him.

The rest of the dare went much the same, though the occupants ranged from amused to annoyed, and as the night progressed, Ichigo became more and more confident, the alcohol catching up to him. He started using a feathery high pitched voice, batting his eye laches at everyone he asked, swinging his hips in what he considered to be an enticing fashion.

Nel was laughing uncontrollably at this point, something about this room in particular amusing her, Ichigo brushed it off, too drunk to notice. He knocked on the door clumsily, asking in a sing song voice, “Well hello mister, care to join m--” he cut off abruptly, realising who had opened the door.

Ikkaku stood before him, a look of utter incredulity on his face at the sight of Ichigo dressed like a prostitute, Nel giggled behind him. He opened the door wider, revealing Yumichika and Renji sitting on the floor, peering around the doorframe to get a better look.

Ichigo turned fifty shades of pink, mortified as his the room exploded with laughter, wild hoots and cat calls mocking him.

He turned on his heel and ran, bursting into Nel’s apartment before a giggle escaped his throat as he crumpled into a little puddle of laughter, giggling hysterically with embarrassment. He could still hear his friends laughing down the hall, the sound muffled when Nel stepped through the door, closing it behind her.

Ichigo schooled his laughter, seeking revenge, “Truth or dare?”

She studied his expression, noting the danger in his eyes, “...Truth” she decided, playing it safe, earning a scowl from her friend.

“Really? Not gonna’ mix it up a little?” he asked.

“I’ll mix it up when you do,” she countered.

“Fine... swallow or spit?” he asked, content when she blushed, mouth dropping open.

“You really just asked me that!?” she demanded in amazement.

“Mmhmm, go on, answer.” He dared her.

Her eyes narrowed, “fine... I swallow...” she admitted, meeting his gaze.

“Next! Truth or dare?”

“Dare” he replied simply, answer at hand.

“Heh, well I’ve been thinking of this since your last dare,” she giggled, sadism colouring her tone, “okay, basically, go knock on Ikkaku’s door, and French kiss one of them for at least thirty seconds” she grinned, “you can choose which one, I don’t mind!”

Ichigo was speechless, staring at the green haired girl like she’d grown an extra head.

“You expect me to _kiss_ one of them!? But we’re all guys!”

“So? It’s a dare Ichi, everything’s forgiven when it’s a dare.” She stated matter of fact.

“But I... no! No way!” he refused.

“Then you have to choose truth!” she tittered with triumph, “Go on then! Choose truth!”

Ichigo hesitated... he was gay after all... but no, he wasn’t about to kiss any of them, they weren’t his type... whatever his type was...

“Fine... truth” he sighed in defeat.

“Eeee!” she squealed in delight, “Finally! Okay, so what’s going in with you and Grimmjow! Spill it!”

Ichigo told her, the alcohol impairing his decision making as he decided to tell her about the night spent with Nnoitra, going into detail in places that he perhaps oughtn’t have.

He thought Nel would be angry about him sleeping with Nnoitra, with all the bad history between them, but instead she was relieved. Apparently it was all okay if there was nothing serious going on: If it’s only a one night stand then he can’t break your heart.

“oohhhhhhhh....” she sighed at last, finally feeling content in the knowledge that he held no more secrets from her, “so then why not ask him out?” she asked at last.

“Because he’s straight?” asked Ichigo rhetorically, raising his eyebrows.

“So? Some of the greatest gay men start out straight!” she insisted.

Ichigo eyes her sceptically, “name one gay man that you know that started out straight.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe that some gay men started out straight, he was certain many did; he just had a sneaking suspicion that his friend had made that up on the spot.

“Fine! ... John... Free...azer...” she lied, “yeah, John Freeazer started off straight!” she declared.

Ichigo looked at her, blank faced.

“Fine, I don’t know any, but they exist! Back to the point! Ask him out, it can’t hurt.” She advised.

“Uh, yeah it can, we’re best friends, hardly any friendships come out in one piece when you put them through the grinder.”

“So? You’re best friends! Real best friends survive that kind of thing, that’s why you can _say_ you’re best friends.” She insisted.

Ichigo sighed, there really was no winning with her.

“...Ichigo... at least think about it. Maybe if you try confessing to him... a little nicer. He might say yes.” She patted his arm, sad for the boy.

“Haaaaaaah...” he sighed, deep in thought, “maybe I should...”

\----------------------

“Whaaaaaat? He’s gay? Are you sure?” asked Renji dubiously, eyeing his friend from across the room where he was picking up their drinks, “but he’s so... not gay looking...”

“You’re _sure_?” pressed Rukia.

“I’m sure! He told me!” insisted Nel, an eye on Ichigo for when he returned.

“He could have been lying...”

“ _Why_ would he lie about something like that?” she asked.

“Could be anything!” exclaimed Rukia, refusing to believe that Ichigo was actually gay.

“He didn’t ever _seem_ gay when we were dating,” piped Orihime.

“That’s because he wasn’t then, it’s only happened recently...”

“I’m not buying it!” decided Rukia, arms crossed.

“It’s true! And he’s crushing on Grimmjow, that’s why they’ve been fighting!” she insisted again, frustrated that they didn’t believe her.

“Oh, you’re talking about Ichigo?” asked Nnoitra, popping up from nowhere, “Well I can vouch, he’s gay alright!”

“Whaat!? How do you know?” question Yumichika.

Nnoitra just winked, his trademark grin spreading over his face.

“He’s lying! Ichigo wouldn’t choose you, even if he were gay!” insisted Rukia, unable to grasp the concept of a gay Ichigo.

“He’d not lying...” mumbled Nel, a light blush over her cheekbones, “Ichigo told me about that too...”

“Oh? I didn’t think he would,” grinned Nnoitra.

“... Well... he was pretty drunk... and the ultimatum was going and making out with either of those three,” she pointed at three very shocked faces.

“Heh, well I can see why he chose the truth!” laughed Nnoitra, inviting the others to laugh along with him, “Oops, Ichi’s coming back, C’ya!” he called, waving to them and Ichigo as he walked away.

“Ugh, that took forever!” complained Ichigo to come very uninterested friends... they were all thinking about Ichigo and his apparent homosexuality.

That night Ichigo received analysing looks from all of them, and even Rukia had to admit that maybe, just maybe he was gay after all.

\-----------------------

“Nel, hey thanks for coming,” he greeted gratefully, guiding her to a stall a little more closed off from the rest of the bar, “I was I hoping I could talk to you about something...”

Nel smiled, she’d always been Grimmjow’s confidant; his side of the story was going to be a lot easier to come by than Ichigo’s.

“Shoot! And bypass the story line, I already know about it, tell me how _you_ feel.” She insisted, shocking Grimmjow with her forwardness.

“Wait, how much do you know?” he asked.

“Everything. The kiss that started it all, your little confrontation, Nnoitra and Ichigo sleeping togeth--” she clapped her hands over her mouth in dismay, “Oh shit! You didn’t know about that did you!?”

“Uh... actually...”

Her eyes bugged, “You _knew_!? But how!?”

“Uh... accidently walked in... Ah! Not while they were-” he cut off, correcting his little mistake, “afterwards, when Ichigo was asleep... did he tell you... I mean Nnoitra told me that he... when he...”

“Oh, about calling your name at the end? Awkward stuff, huh?”

“...yeah... that’s actually what’s got me so... confused. I’m not gay. _Completely_ not gay. I can’t imagine a world in which I’m gay... but when I heard that, I... well I mean it’s flattering, if weird.”

“So... you like Ichigo or not?” she prodded, steering him back to the question.

He sighed, “I don’t know... did he tell you... how he really feels? We didn’t really go into detail when he told me...”

“Oh? Well yeah, he said he really likes you, more than he should, but that he doesn’t want to force you into anything... he freaked out at first, but then when he came to terms with being gay... well he came to terms with liking you, in his own little way.”

“You mean... he actually... I mean seriously likes me?” he asked, agitated, “that’s just, It’s just...”

He stood up abruptly, “Sorry Nel, I’ve gotta go clear my head for a bit” he mumbled apologetically before racing out of the bar into the cool night air, gulping large breaths.

He hit the pavement at a run, letting the adrenaline pump through his body, physical strain helping him not to think. Soon he came across a park he knew well, a five minute walk from the dormitories. He was about to head on back when he spotted a flash of orange, hair illuminated by the street light.

“...Ichigo...?” he wondered. What the hell could Ichigo be doing in a place like this at night, but the shock of Orange hair was unmistakable.

Grimmjow steeled himself, taking a deep breath before walking over to his friend, sitting lightly beside him.

“Hey,” he greeted, not looking at him.

“...Grimmjow...”

“... Hey look, I’ve been thinking, I’m really sorry I kissed you... I didn’t think you’d think anything of it... but, well, about this whole thing... I don’t know. I just don’t know how I feel, or what I want, or anything! But I know what I _don’t_ want, and that’s to lose you as a friend Ichi... you’re my best friend...”

Ichigo ran a hand through his bright locks, inhaling deeply, “You’re _my_ best friend. I don’t wanna’ lose you either.”

“Ichigo... you never really told me... tell me how you feel, what you mean, coz’ don’t know what to think anymore.”

“...I’m... gay, Grimmjow, completely gay.” He replied, shame burning at his cheeks, though he couldn’t understand why.

“Yeah, I know, I found you asleep in Nnoitra’s arms the other night,” he informed the boy, cracking a smile at the shock that played over Ichigo’s face, “I also heard you screamed my name at the climax.”

Ichigo flushed, mumbling something incoherent.

“What was that?”

“...It wasn’t really a scream...” he defended himself, only just audible.

Grimmjow couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, “Ichi... do you seriously like me... like that...You actually want a... relationship...?” he asked, sobering.

Ichigo hesitated, “Yep, I’m pretty hung up on you, way to go heart throb!” scraping together some humour, “but, don’t force yourself Grimm, I don’t want our friendship to fall apart.”

“...Not that I’m disagreeing, but you and Orihime seem pretty cosy still, that worked out, Me and Rukia too.”

Ichigo’s head shot around at this, “ _you and Rukia dated!?_ ” he demanded eyes bugging the taller boy nodded, “how come I was never told about this!?”

“Cos it lasted two days... we didn’t really tell anyone, but we agreed to keep it quiet so you didn’t have to choose sides.”

“You guys... seriously..?” he asked, suddenly emotional, reaching over to hug his friend, hastily pulling away as he remember their situation.

“Idiot,” he grumbled, pulling the boy back into a hug, “doesn’t matter what happens, you want a hug, you’ll get a fucking hug.”

He wrapped Ichigo in his arms and they sat there for God knows how long, comfortable, relieved to be talking again. Eventually they pulled away, both feeling better about life.

They dawdled back to the dorms, finding the deserted corridors, unsurprisingly so, as it was already 2.00 AM.

Grimmjow walked Ichigo to his room, dropping him off on his way to his own, grabbing hold of Ichigo’s wrist as he made to close the door, “Ichi, like I said, I don’t know how I feel... but, I know I want to be friends with you again. Why don’t you stop avoiding me? We’ll figure this shit out another time.”

Ichigo let a small smile grace his face, “Yeah, sorry for being such a dick.”

“Aww, Ichi, I know you can’t help it, it’s a part of who you are.”

This startled a laugh from the shorter of the two, who playfully punched the other, closing the door with a smile. Things were hopefully going back to the way they were. They’d talk about this another day, but for now, Ichigo was going to sleep. He was dead tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... Yeah, Nnoitra’s out of character, and I’m thinking Grimmjow is too...
> 
> ...and I’m really not so happy with this chapter :( It’s becoming predictable... and the general idea is over used... and I’m not sure about how I wrote it...
> 
> Ahah... whoops...
> 
> Oh yeah, sorry guys! I know this is a GrimmIchi fic, don’t worry, that’ll come later, but I felt like an IchiNnoi sex scene so...yeah, I wrote one ^^’
> 
> Oopsies... getting a little fluffy over here :/ Maybe I shall have to fix that. Anyway, I’ll try my best to make up for this chapter with the next!
> 
> (Oh, and has anyone noticed my favourite writing technique...? there’s a hint... Look! There’s another! ...yeah, I like “...”’s, sorry if they’re over used ^^)
> 
> Please Review! I reply to all reviews and PMs! 
> 
> And if you see any mistakes in any of the chapters, please let me know!
> 
> Thankyou for reading, I hope you’re enjoying it so far! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Awkwardly they sat side by side, surrounded by their friends, Renji, Rukia, Nel, Nnoitra, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Shinji, and Shuuhei.

They were drinking at their usual haunt, Urahara’s bar, but the laid back atmosphere that never ceased to envelope the occupants was kept at bay by the aura radiating from the boys, mixed between awkwardness, longing, and unspoken words.

Grimmjow had been dragged to the bar by Ikkaku, while Ichigo had initially planned to go; unaware that he would be meeting Grimmjow... or that they would be sitting next to each other in the crowded booths.

 _Perhaps this is for the best..._ thought Ichigo, _maybe it’s better to get this out of the way now._

That’s what he’d thought, but Grimmjow was acting unusually awkward, trying to not press into Ichigo too much, being careful not to look him in the eye.

This forced avoidance baffled the red head. Hadn’t _he_ been the one to tell him not to avoid him!? Why was he being like this now!?

Well, the answer was painfully simply: things are always easier said than done.

And this was too soon, he hadn’t prepared himself!

And so, the two sat in silence as their friends chatted, fighting to keep the morale that Ichigo and Grimmjow were threatening to drown.

“Oi, Ichigo, What’s wrong with you two lately?” asked Rukia, blunt as ever. She’d heard about their problems from Nel, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to ask, make her own decisions about the situation.

“Ah! Uh! N-nothing! Why do you- uh, ask?” he stumbled over his words uselessly, heat flushing over his face.

“Ohhh?” she droned unconvinced, “ne, Grimmjow, what’s going on with you guys?”

“None of your damn business, dwarf!” he shot back, relieved that he hadn’t been questioned first.

“Is that so? I disagree,” butted in Yumichika, taking the offense “you’re here raining on our parade after all. I think that makes it our business. Indecisiveness really is so ugly.”

“Who the fuck’re you calling ugly, Swan Princess!?” demanded Grimmjow, standing from his seat, relieved for the distance it put between him and Ichigo.

“S...Swan Princess...?” questioned the tables occupants together, Ichigo included.

“Uh... well he’s... got those feather things, and he’s like a princess... all snooty and stuck up-”

“How dare you!” exclaimed Yumichika, fidgeting with his hair, “I am _not_ a snooty princess, I’m simply more beautiful than you can ever hope to be!”

“Yeah, yeah! Come on Yumichika,” intervened their bald saviour, “you called him ugly first.”

“But he called me-!”

“That’s not important right now!” Ikkaku interrupted, not in the mood for his friends antics.

“Hmph, it’s important to me.” He mumbled to himself as he took his seat again.

“Well I’m with Grimmjow, this isn’t our business, we should just _leave it alone_ ” he intoned, eyeing all of his friends around the table to let them know he was serious.

“Like hell!” cried Shinji, “If you wanna fuck each other then fuck each other, it’s as simple as that!”

The table was paralysed, Ikkaku and Yumichika the only exceptions as they struggled to stifle their giggles.

“The fuck was that!?”

“Shinji! What the-!?” The two in question cried in unison, Ichigo shooting up from his seat to join Grimmjow, faces bright red. They hadn’t been aware that their friends knew of their predicament... but they knew now.

“Shinji, maybe that was a little...” trailed off Shuuhei, not sure how to fix the problem his lover had just created.

“Fucking hell!” yelled Ichigo as they fought their way out of booth, freeing themselves.

Now Ichigo couldn’t look Grimmjow in the eye either; he strode off, fuming with rage and humiliation, quick paced steps taking him back to the dorms.

“Ichigo! Oi! Ichigo wait up!” called the last voice Ichigo wanted to hear at that moment.

“What the fuck, Shinji!? What the fuck!?” he screamed, distress clear in his voice, “Why would you say something like that!? Are you a complete fucking retard!?”

“...I’m sorry Ichigo, I went too far-”

“YOU THINK!?” he yelled back, frustration getting the better of him.

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing more I can say.” He replied, eyes sad, “I really am.... hey, why don’t you stay at my place tonight? Me’n Shuuhei’re heading to his family’s place for the weekend, so you can hide out here as my apologies, ‘kay?”

Ichigo was puffing as he calmed himself down, his head banging against the wall with a thud; he really didn’t want any of his friends trying to talk to him at the moment... Shinji’s place would be really convenient.

“Fine...thanks.” he mumbled, though he couldn’t figure out why he said so; he’d been brought up a polite child, no reason to lose his manners now. He was too distressed to notice the smile in Shinji’s eyes.

He caught the key Shinji threw at him, trudging the short distance to the pair’s room, locking it behind him as he fell face first onto the bed, laying there for five minutes before stripping to his underwear and quickly falling asleep in the dim lit room.

\----------------------

“Grimmjow! Hey Grimmjow, listen to me,” called Shuuhei, jogging over to the agitated boy as he stopped pacing, “Grimmjow, I am truly sorry about Shinji back there, he overstepped his bounds... but please let us make it up to you!” he called again when Grimmjow gave a grunt before walking off.

“Grimmjow! Let us make it up to you! Shinji and I are going away for the weekend, so you can stay at our place while we’re away, okay?” he offered, extending a hand that held a key.

“Huh? Why would I want to stay at your place?” he demanded, annoyed.

“Well... wouldn’t that hide you from the people who want to talk to you about this...?” offered Shuuhei, baiting the hook as he mentally apologised to Grimmjow. He may be the responsible one in the relationship, but that didn’t mean he and Shinji had no common interests.

“Oh...” mumbled Grimmjow, not having thought that far ahead, “Fine.”

He snatched the key from Shuuhei, darting to their room quickly, relieved when the key worked without a fight.

He gave a deep sigh; he was sick and tired of all this bullshit, a good night’s sleep should help some though, he conceded.

Thus he stripped his clothes completely, slipping beneath the surprisingly warm sheets, eyes sliding shut within seconds, oblivious to the semi naked Ichigo sleeping beside him.

\--------------------------

Ichigo struggled into consciousness, throwing an arm over his eyes to shield against the harsh light pouring in from the windows.

Distantly his mind registered a beeping sound, head spinning uselessly as he tried to discern what it was. After several moments he woke up enough to realise that his phone alarm was going off.

The red head struggled as he grabbed for his pants, which were blessedly within reach, fishing the phone out of the pocket, sighing with relief as he pressed the button to turn it off.

The phone screen glowed a pale blue, 8:33 printed across the screen. He let the phone drop; Ichigo was a habitual early riser, but his current social standing kept him in bed, hidden beneath the covers in an attempt to pretend that last night hadn’t happened.

Without warning a muscled arm draped heavily over his shoulders, the owner fast asleep, unwoken by the alarm.

“G-Grimmjow!?” shrieked Ichigo, his voice shrill.

The blue haired boy pried his eyes open, mumbling in annoyance at being woken, “Ichigo...? What’re you doing here...?”

“What am I--!? What are _you_ doing here!?” he yelled back, the sound waking Grimmjow properly.

“Ichigo!?” he asked with a jolt, eyes wide as he yanked his hand away, “the fuck!?”

The two stared at each other in horror, faces hot, Ichigo bursting from the confines of the bed sheets.

“the fuck’re you doin’ in my bed!?” demanded Grimmjow, sudden terror pumping his heart as he began to understand what this meant... did he... with Ichigo...?

“Your bed!? It’s my bed!” insisted Ichigo

“Oh yeah! I just casually climbed into your bed!” replied Grimmjow sarcastically.

“It’s my bed--! ...Wait... no it’s not...” trailed Ichigo, his memories returning.

“I told you it was my bed!” spat Grimmjow, triumph creeping through the awkwardness.

“No, it’s not. It’s Shinji’s bed.”

Grimmjow froze, “Shinji...’s” suddenly his head cleared enough to remember fragments of last night’s happenings, grimacing as he understood what had actually happened, relief flooding his chest before anger took it’s play.

He sent a string of curses to the ceiling, hands balled into fists as he fought the urge to punch a hole in the wall.

Ichigo was stiffened when he realised that they’d been sleeping naked together, blush staining his face. _He_ had been wearing underwear, but the same couldn’t be said for his friend: Grimmjow always slept naked.

Ichigo was tired, his common sense and reasoning lowered as a result. At least in retrospect that’s all he could come up with as the reason to his actions.

The red head reached over the bed in frustration, taking his friend by surprise as he kissed him roughly, forcefully, holding their faces together before abruptly letting go, “This is what you did to me! One stupid kiss and suddenly my head’s all messed up! You stupid fucking asshole! Do you understand how I feel!? _Could_ you understand how I feel!? Is there even the _slightest_ possibility!? No! I don’t think so!” Ichigo gave a string of curses and insults to rival Grimmjow’s, directing them at the stunned boy.

Grimmjow’s mind went blank, all common sense thrown askew, his eyebrows knotting together as he grabbed Ichigo’s face and kissed him in retaliation, teeth brushing teeth as their lips were unintentionally forced apart.

The kiss was harsh, mouths curled into grimaces as the pushed against each other.

Ichigo ended the kiss with a shove, sending them flying apart, hand flying to his mouth with shock. It was one thing for him to lose himself in a moment of anger, but did Grimmjow really not understand the situation they were in.

“Grimmjow...” he growled dangerously, “are you a fucking moron?”

“Am _I_ a moron? You kissed me first!”

“But _I’m_ gay! Are you _trying_ to provoke me!?”

“ _Provoke_ you!? What’re you gonna do, force my hand? Like you could!” he yelled back. Ichigo had good brains and was strong enough, but in a fight there was no doubt as to who the winner would be.

Ichigo grit his teeth, he couldn’t decide whether to scowl or grimace, and his mixture of the two was rather impressive, “That’s not the point!” he yelled back, stepping closer.

“Then what _is_ the point!?” he demanded, moving forward until their faces were centimetres from each other, ignoring the sheets as they fell away to bare his naked form.

Their eyes held a unanimous headstrong anger, a reckless emotion that caused both to persevere in their argument, faces moving together to lock lips, the battle for dominance beginning.

Their lips met harshly, opening and closing in attempts to gain leverage over the other, succeeding only in deepening the kiss as tongues were added to fill the gaps.

They grabbed at each other’s hair, hands fisting in the locks, Ichigo’s fingers trailing down to grip Grimmjow’s face, anger resonating through their bodies.

Through the anger other emotions were forced to the top, embarrassment flooding Grimmjow’s cheeks with heat, lust and worry tugging at the red head’s mind.

Ichigo too felt the warmth run beneath his skin when his groin began to respond, hardening at the contact with his best friend.

Grimmjow’s eyes widened in alarm when he feels the cloth beneath his hand slide, unintentionally hurling his weight into Ichigo in an attempt to regain balance, toppling them both onto the floor, Grimmjow lying atop his friend.

“Urgh!” they grumbled, hands reaching for their mouths to soothe the damage that mashing together in the fall had dealt, both relieved to find the skin unbroken, stiffening as they simultaneously noticed an unexpected pressure.

 Sitting up Ichigo stared open mouthed at the semi-hard length protruding from his completely naked friend. Grimmjow pulling away hastily, blush running down his chest and over his ears, surprise making him gasp when Ichigo grabbed his biceps, keeping him from retreating.

The adrenaline of the situation rushed through Ichigo’s body, filling him with daring as he grabbed Grimmjow’s hand, pulling it to his own erection which stood at full mast.

The blue haired boy was frozen; how could Ichigo actually be _hard_? This was a show of strength! A pissing contest! How could he _actually_ be _getting off_ on it!? ...Not that his own situation was much better... but Ichigo was _way_ further gone than him!

Mortified, Grimmjow was frozen, hand still upon his friends length, his only consolation that he wasn’t the only one.

Flinching, Grimmjow noticed Ichigo’s sudden advance, face drawing closer by the second, though slow, giving him time to move.

Grimmjow’s eyes flicked around the room in horror, _Move damnit, move! Why won’t my body move!?_ He thought desperately, shock still coursing through his veins, eyes squeezing shut as contact was made, Ichigo’s lips gentle and slow, eyes closed as he reached up to cup Grimmjow’s jaw.

Ichigo added more force to the kiss, his initial anger remembered, urging him on, backing Grimmjow against the bed.

 _Oh now you’re fucking angry, huh?_ Thought Grimmjow, pushing against his captor with a revived anger of his own, engaging once again in the fight for dominance.

Ichigo was in an unstable state of mind, the lust and passion merging with the anger, which in turn spurned the flames of such emotions within his friend, hunger building in Grimmjow despite his attempts to stop it.

The kiss became dangerous, no longer a competition, but a show of power, both sides fighting for supremacy.

Grimmjow was now completely erect, his instincts taking over, all worries forgotten in his lust, taking control as he pushed Ichigo onto his back, stripping him of his only item of clothing, pulling them both back onto the bed. Quickly he lined himself up with his friend, slowing when Ichigo struggled desperately.

The red head visibly relaxed when he stopped, reaching over to search the draws of the bedside table, retrieving a bottle of clear gel with triumph... well it _was_ Shinji and Shuuhei’s room after all.

“What’s that” breathed Grimmjow, voice gruff.

“Uhh, I’m not sure but... you need to, uh... prepare me...?” ask wondered, trying to remember Nnoitra’s words, “Uh yeah, umm... with your fingers...” he mumbled, face turning red, eyes averted from his captor.

Grimmjow also flushed red but didn’t mess about, grabbing the bottle and squeezing a hefty amount onto his fingers, cautiously lining them up against Ichigo’s opening, steeling himself for what was to come.

He had to keep from jerking his hand back when he slipped two inside, gasping at the tight heat that encompassed the appendages.

Face bright with chagrin he began pumping inside and out repeatedly, feeling more and more awkward as he became harder. Nervously he pulled out, lathering his length in the gel as he lined himself against Ichigo’s opening again, gulped hard as he pushed inside, a broken gasp falling from his lips at the feeling.

It was similar to the feeling surrounding his fingers, but 100 times stronger, him being far larger than two fingers.

His burst of desire was cut short when Ichigo cried out in pain, clamping a hand over his mouth, face turned into his shoulder. He took a deep breath as he gripped Grimmjow shoulders; Grimmjow really was larger girth wise than Nnoitra.

“It’s fine... I train with a sword right? This is nothing compared...” of course when fighting in matches the adrenaline was always pumping high...

Appeased, Grimmjow returned the task at hand, all consciousness of being straight forgotten, his instincts taking over.

Slowly he pulled halfway out of the boy, pushing back in with force, fingers digging into Ichigo’s hips as he repeated the motion, distorted gasps filling the room as the friction created a difference kind of pleasure than sleeping with a woman.

Ichigo ground against him, impatient at the slow pace, memories of his night with Nnoitra flitting into his mind, urging him towards that release.

Wet slaps joined the gasps as Grimmjow sped up, encouraged by Ichigo’s reactions.

“Ichigo...” he whispered involuntarily, too distracted to care, covered in a sheen of sweat.

The sound of his name on Grimmjow’s lips was a huge turn on for Ichigo, who reached up to kiss his friend, arm around his shoulder, the other at his waist, the kiss broken occasionally by extra hard thrusts.

With Ichigo’s face so close, it was all he could see, the flushed expression of pleasure surprisingly erotic, “Ichigo...” he mumbled again, met with his name similarly growled.

“Ichi... Ichigo...” he growled once more.

“Grimmjow..!” their breathing was becoming rapid, irregular, tearing from their bodies in great gasps as they bucked into one another, clinging to each other, lost in the passion.

“Ichigo...!” he grunted one final time, releasing inside of the red head, pleasure coursing through his body, muscles clenching.

Ichigo stiffened in response, reaching his own orgasm, the sticky fluid flying onto their stomachs.

The pair slowed to a halt, gasping for air, Grimmjow collapsing onto Ichigo, body heavy with exhaustion, both pairs of eyes sliding shut, slipping out of consciousness.

\-------------------------------------

“You _what!?_ ” demanded Nel, eyes wide at the confession.

“Tch... you heard me...” mumbled Grimmjow annoyed.

 They were in her room having a few drinks. Nel had always been the person he went to for support, and he really needed to talk to someone about this.

“I’m not sure I did!” she shrieked.

“Tch! I slept with Ichigo! I fucking slept with my best friend, alright!?” he yelled back, quieting when he remember the thin walls.

“But... then are you gay too?” she asked, head titled as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing.

“No! No...” he sighed, regret resonating through his mind, “but Ichigo thought I was... I mean afterwards... he thought we’d get together... now he’s angry at me again, for leading him on he said, but he fucking kissed me first!”

“... Uh... Grimmy, I don’t really think a kiss automatically dictates sex... maybe you should tell me what happened...”

He sighed again, chugging the last of his beer and cracking another open. He ran his fingers through his hair, heat tickling his neck as he began his narrative, leaving out all the detail. That was no problem to Nel anyway, her imagination was creative enough to conjure the rest... which she did... in great detail.

“So you see? It started off just... well, just a competition... but I sort of- _we_ sort of lost control,” he explained, “but I’m not gay, you know that!”

“So you had a big argument at the end?” she guessed, he hadn’t quite explained that bit yet.

“Well yeah, I’m not gay after all; when I woke up I freaked out... he woke up first, so I couldn’t just escape-”

“Grimmy!” she interrupted in disbelief, “you wouldn’t have just left! Surely not Grimmy! He’s your best friend!”

“Uh- Uh yeah... I mean, uh...” he held his hand up to defend himself, though they did little to soften her glare, “I mean I probably wouldn’t have I don’t know! I was... scared...”

“Scared?” Grimmjow wasn’t one to admit when he was scared; she softened her expression, “Fine, you were scared, that’s fair enough, but what are you going to do now?”

“You mean you’re not gonna’ tell me!?”

“ _Tell_ you!? Why should _I_ have to know what to do?” she demanded indignant.

“You always know what to do!”

“Hmph, well thanks for the compliment, but I’m not a fortune teller, I can’t just give you answer like that... hmm... well you have a few options... you could turn gay—I’m kidding!” she interrupted herself at the look on Grimmjow’s face, continuing when he calmed down, “you could confront him about it, you could pretend it never happened, you could start one of those sex friendships... kidding again” she assured him at the grimace, “Well that’s all I can think of...”

Grimmjow groaned to himself, “So my only real options are to pretend it never happened, or to talk to him...”

“Grimmy... you shouldn’t pretend it didn’t happen...”

“Why not!?” he demanded, he was going to choose that one...

She rolled her eyes with a dramatic sigh, “have you no heart!? How do you think he feels about this!? It’s like you used him and now you won’t even face the consequences-”

“I didn’t use him!”

“ _You_ know that! _I_ know that! Does _he_ know that!?”

He averted his eyes, head falling back after taking a swig of beer, “...so I guess it’s the confrontation then...”

“It’s definitely for the best!” she chirped.

“...No... no I won’t do it! It was- I mean he’s... I’ll just act like nothing happened, we can go back to normal.”

“Grimmjow...”

“No! We’ll go back to normal like that!” he insisted.

Nel could only sigh, Grimmjow was adamant, he’d made up his mind, and nothing she could say was going to change that.

\----------------------------

“Ichigo?” mumbled Nnoitra on a yawn, “what time is it...”

“Uhh... about 2:30...in the afternoon...”

“Oh... later than I thought... okay, whada ya want?”

“Uh... sorry but I... could I... talk to you...?” he asked awkwardly, “it’s kind of... personal though...”

“...Sure, come in,” he offered, stepping out of the way for the boy; now that Nnoitra was waking up properly he could see that Ichigo was in a frazzled state of mind, he kept fidgeting, biting his lip while his eyes roamed the room.

“Ichi, you okay? Whada ya wanna’ talk about?”

Ichigo swallowed the excess saliva, taking a deep breath as he took a seat on Nnoitra’s bed, “I just... just before I... with Grimmjow... I...” he ran his hands over his face, hiding the pained expression he couldn’t hold back, “I...”

Nnoitra understood quickly, “I get it, so what’s wrong? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“When he woke up, he wasn’t... I mean he said he didn’t mean to...” he admitted, shoulders dropping, hands falling from his face, “he said it was an accident, that he wasn’t gay... then he left, he was really...”

Nnoitra sat down beside the boy, a sympathetic hand resting on his shoulder.

“Fuck, Nnoitra... I think... I just made things worse...” he admitted, head falling to his hands, “why did I have to make things worse!? Why didn’t I just leave it alone!?”

“Because you love him...?” Nnoitra pried; someone needed to ask the question after all.

Ichigo couldn’t answer... rather, he didn’t have the answer. Did he love Grimmjow? He didn’t think so... but there was something.

“Ichigo, why don’t you tell me what happened... from the beginning.”

\-----------------------------------

“Nel~! Can I speak to you for a second~?” Nnoitra sang to the green haired girl, earning a scowl.

“What do you want?” she snapped, she had other things on her mind to worry about.

He smiled his wide smile, “I think we should go somewhere a little less busy,” he commented, grabbing her wrist and dragging her to a deserted corner of the school,

Nel was on the alert, particularly being alone with Nnoitra... not that she though he was going to attack her or anything, but something about him set her nerves on edge, “So what do you want?”

“You’ve been speaking to Grimmjow, right?” he asked, “You know what happened?”

She stiffened, looking him in the eyes, searching for a bluff, “I know what happened, do _you_?”

“Ooh! You wound me, insinuating that I was here to glean information!” he wailed dramatically, a hand pressed to his heart.

“It was more than an insinuation. So? Do you?”

“Mmhmm, Ichi and Grimm did the dirty, but Grimmjow freaked out at the end, while Ichigo was hoping for a relationship... they’re in the middle of an avoidance match right about now,” he summarised.

“Hmm, so you did know...” she mumbled with a pout, “fine, what about it?”

“Welll~ Come on! You were the only person to guess my little hobby, aren’t you interested too?”

“Whether or not I’m interested I’ll deal with on my own, I’d rather have nothing to do with you” she growled, sticking her nose into the air as she walked away.

“Wait!” he cried, pulling her back, “at least listen to what I have to say!”

“Why should I!?” she demanded, anger flaring, “why should I listen to a God damned thing you say!? After what you pulled, why should I care one bit!?”

“Nel...” his eyes grew a sad, “I said I was sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it!” she yelled back, forcing back the tears that threatened to form, her throat tightening.

“Nel... I really am sorry... it was wrong, I know that, but I can’t change that now.”

“You used me! I thought you loved me but you fucked me and threw me away!”

“You didn’t think I loved you!” he defended himself, “Fine, I knew _you_ loved me, but you never thought I loved you, at least own up to some of the blame. You kept on pushing, even though I told you...”

She looked away, she couldn’t help it, the tears fell, running down her face. She swiped her hands over her eyes angrily. Why did tears always come at the worst time? She wasn’t sad, she was angry, but tears only made her seem weak.

Nnoitra didn’t try to comfort her; he knew that his touch would only make things worse, “Nel... you know Ichigo loves Grimmjow...”

She stopped, “He said that?”

“He didn’t need to, it’s obvious. He wanted Grimmjow to feel the same way... but Grimmjow slept with him and just left... kind of reminds you of a situation a little closer to home, doesn’t it?”

“But Grimmjow... he was scared, he even admitted it...”

“I know. That’s why I’m bothering with this, because unlike me, he _is_ a relationship kind of guy, and if those two _do_ get together don’t you think it’ll be a happier ending? Nel, I’m not asking you to forgive me... just help me with the plan, I can’t do it alone.”

Nel brushed away the rest of her tears, drying her eyes on her sleeve as she regained some dignity, “do you actually _have_ a plan?” she asked, relenting.

“Heh, believe it or not, I actually do!”

\----------------------------

“Urahara! Hi! Remember you told me about the cellar you have under your store that you never use? Could I borrow it for two days? Pretty Please?” begged Nel, Urahara had always taken a liking to her.

“hmmm? He asked, eyeing Nnoitra behind her, “planning mischief?”

“Of course!” chirped Nnoitra, “but it’s good mischief! We’re locking Ichigo and Grimmjow down there!”

“Nnoitra!” shrieked Nel in a whisper.

“Don’t worry, they’ll have food,” he  assured the blond man quickly; he knew that Urahara was a little left of the law sometimes, not to a large degree, but keeping a couple people locked in a cellar for two days wasn’t a problem... as long as they didn’t die.

“Hmmm... okay!” he agreed easily, reaching behind the bar to shuffle through a few keys, finding the bulky one easily, “just return the key when you’re done!”

They walked off in triumph, making their way to the back of the bar where they found the cellar doors, picking up the items they’d left outside on the way. They unlocked them, prying the heavy doors aside so reveal a wooden staircase leading down.

Nnoitra pulled the hanging light switch, walking down the stairs to place the basket of food, three days’ worth just in case, two pillows and a single blanket. However Nel felt about him, she shared his love of matchmaking, and harboured a very similar mean streak. Neither of the boys worked, and they both had Mondays off... Nnoitra and Nel would call in sick for them on the Tuesday.

Casually the climbed out again, each fishing their phones out of their pockets, finding the number of the pair in their phones and calling.

“Ichigo... Hey, I wanna’ talk to you about somethin’ important, can you come down to Urahara’s? ... Yeah... yeah, I’ll wait outside... ‘kay, thanks.”

“Grimmy? It’s Nel here! I have a surprise! Come down to Urahara’s! ...Now! ...No, come now! It’s a surprise! ...Come on, It’ll help, I promise! ...Mmhmm, I’ll wait outside for you!” she hung up, “...So what do we do if they get here at the same time...?

They both stiffened, turning to face each other worriedly, “Uhh... let’s just hope that doesn’t happen...”

“Hmph! Ohwell, Grimmjow’ll be late anyway, he usually is.”

True to her word, after several excruciatingly awkward minutes Ichigo showed up first, clearly surprise written clearly over his face to find them together.

“Itsygo! Come here!” called Nel, leading him behind the shop with Nnoitra, wrapping the piece of cloth she’d brought with her around his eyes.

“Huh!? Nel, what’re you...?”

“I can’t ruin the surprise!” she sang, leading him to the doors, now watch your step, we’re going down some stairs from here on... good... now sit down, just one the ground’s fine, and DO NOT take your blindfold off! It’s a surprise!

Seconds after she rose from the steps Grimmjow turned the corner with Nnoitra, also blindfolded; she held a finger to her lips for quiet.

“Sshhh, don’t make any noise!” Nnoitra whispered in Grimmjow’s ear, too close for comfort... though what was really making Grimmjow uncomfortable was that Ichigo had slept with this man, he couldn’t stop thinking of it.

Carefully they descended the steps, Ichigo startling when he heard sounds.

“Now sit down, just on the ground there~!” ordered Nnoitra in a sing song voice, making a run for the entrance as soon as he was sat, locking the door swiftly behind him.

“Huh? What’s wrong? Nnoitra?” asked Ichigo confused, “is someone else here?”

“Ichigo!?” gasped Grimmjow in shock, tearing his blindfold from his face.

Grimmjow!?” demanded Ichigo, just as shocked, pulling the cloth free from his face as well, “what the hell?”

“Soooorryyy~!” called Nnoitra from the entrance, followed by a fit of girlish giggles from his partner in crime, “but if you’re not gonna’ sort things out yourselves....”

“Then we’ll help you!” finished Nel, still giggling spastically.

“Nnoitra! Nel! What’s going on!?” they demanded, furious at being tricked.

“We’ll be leaving you here for two days, so make sure you sort everything out by then! There’s food in the basket!” called Nel cheerfully, “we’ll call in sick for you both, don’t worry!”

“Nnoitra! Nel!!” Cried Ichigo again, his sentence punctuated with a string of swearing from his friend.

“Have fun~!” called Nnoitra in a final goodbye, the two walking away, leaving them trapped.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Damnit! Fuck!” cried Ichigo, Grimmjow being  little more inventive in the back ground, the pair crawling up the stair in the dark, searching the walls for a light switch, Grimmjow finding it as the string bumped against his head.

Futilely they pulled and pushed at the door, shoving at it with their hands, unable to use their legs due to the angle of the staircase, but either way it was no use, the wood was solid, and hung on sturdy hinges. It didn’t give an inch.

Ichigo was the first to give up while Grimmjow kept on attacking the doors.

The red head made his way down to the basket, finding a letter at the top of the food, addressed to the both of them.

_Dear Ichigo and Grimmjow,_

_No doubt you’re very angry with us right now, we’re sorry about having to do this, but you were both being so evasive of your feelings. We decided to take things into our own hands, and so you’ll be spending the next two days locked in this cellar._

_I’m very sorry, but we’ve had to take your phones, we took them while you were blindfolded, don’t be angry, we had to prevent you from calling for help._

_It’s no use yelling for help, the only people that will walk behind the store are Urahara and Tessai, or their two little bar hands, but we’ve already asked permission, so they won’t let you out._

_Instead of wasting your time on things like escape, you should talk about your feelings. Either way you will be stuck there with nothing to do for two days anyway, you’ll have to talk eventually. Of course the Ichigo and Grimmjow I know wouldn’t have any problem staying amused while together for two days._

_Try to pull back that relationship. Good luck!_

_Love,_

_Nel and Nniotra_

_P.S._

_There’s a little present hidden in a corner of the basket just in case!_

Ichigo finished reading annoyed, searching to find his phone really was missing.

“Grimmjow!” he called to his friend, motioning to the note and passing it to him as he went to search the basket. It held bottles of water, energy bars, a few apples, and a large supply of sandwiches. They were only here for two days, it would last them plenty.

He searched the corners of the basket to find a small bottle of lubricant, a small card reading “just in case xx” attached.

A light blush crept up his neck at the thought “yeah, I wish,” he muttered under his breath, slipping the cylinder back into its nook.

Grimmjow came up beside him, fighting for a space at the basket, searching the corners immediately, flushing bright red when he realised what it was, stuffing it back in.

They fought for the space at the basket, heads banging into each other as Grimmjow examined the contents, Ichigo being more mature and moving away.

The blue haired boy felt a pang of guilt, offering Ichigo a sandwich, which was taken gratefully. They sat and ate in silence, the air filled with an electric atmosphere, both parties needing to talk, but not wanting to with the strongest fear.

Five hours later...

Ichigo was twisting the plastic wrap that had surrounded the sandwiches he’d eaten, turning them into various shaped animals... each animal looking exactly like a twisted lump of plastic...

Grimmjow was sitting in a corner at the opposite end of the cellar, but the cellar was small enough that it didn’t make any difference.

Grimmjow was juggling three of the apples, cursing every now and then when he dropped them; Ichigo was sure they wouldn’t be fit to eat by the end of it, but let it be. There really wasn’t anything else to do.

As they sat there, each participating in the mindless activities they had chosen, they each thought of their predicament in great length, Grimmjow entertaining ideas of escape, while Ichigo worked up the courage to address the problem properly.

Clenching his fingers he took a deep breath, head falling forward in defeat, “...Grimmjow... ... ...”

He faltered, he didn’t know what he wanted to say, or what he wanted to achieve by it.

“...Ichi...?” he asked, eyes squeezing shut, preparing himself for “the talk”.

The nickname brought a smile to the red heads face, “it’s been a while since you called me Ichi last...”

“Yeah... I guess so...”

Another deep breath, “Grimmjow, I think we should talk about this... I... I overstepped my bounds. I’m sorry if I forced you to do something you didn’t want to... I didn’t know.”

“I don’t really wanna’ talk about that just now-”

“So?” asked Ichigo incredulously, “So you don’t wanna’ talk about it, that means we just let it be and always have that awkward memory between us? To never resolve any of it? Is that really what you want?”

“Just not now! Why should I have to talk about it now!?” Grimmjow demanded his temper sparking.

“Then when!? What better time than now!? It’s not like you have anything better to do, is it?”

Grimmjow could only stare, teeth clenched together in a grimace of fury. He didn’t know when or why not. Why should he? He was just as confused as Ichigo, more so, why should he have to talk about it if he didn’t want to?

He looked away, pointedly ignoring his friend; a conversation couldn’t take place if he refused to join in.

After several minutes of silence Grimmjow’s curiosity won, “What time is it?” he asked. His phone was missing and he didn’t own a watch.

“I’ll tell you if you agree to talk,” bargained Ichigo.

“Tch, fine,” he spat, “keep your damn time.”

They sat in another silence, guilt eating at Ichigo’s mind, “10:45.”

“I’m going to sleep then,” Grimmjow informed his friend, reaching over to rifle through the blankets and pillows, “Huh?”

“What?” asked Ichigo, curious.

“There’s only one blanket, did you take the other one?”

“No, I haven’t touched them”

Grimmjow couldn’t help but blush when he realised that this was a part of their plan, teeth gritted in anger, “fine,” was all he said, throwing the blanket to Ichigo, taking his pillow and turning away.

“Grimmjow... are you sure...?”

“Sure.”

“But I mean... we can share... or... rock paper scissors...? he offered.

“I said it’s fine!” Grimmjow shot back, becoming annoyed, “it’s too warm for blankets anyway.”

“... Too warm for blankets...? It’s freezing...” Ichigo insisted.

“See, you’re cold and I’m hot, you keep the blanket. Now shut up, I’m going to sleep.”

It was no use arguing with an adamant Grimmjow, so Ichigo turned away himself, wrapping the blanket around him and curling into a ball, trying to retain his body heat.

\------------------

“Nghh,” groaned Ichigo shivering, rubbing his fingers over the goose bumps that had formed. It took him a moment to remember where he was; there was no light, but he could hear the sounds of breathing near him.

Slowly he remembered what had happened, eyes adjusting to the dark. He checked his watch quickly: 4:20AM.

Across the small space he could see his friend shivering, curled into a fitful sleep.

Ichigo couldn’t help but sigh at his friend, so stubborn even though he’s freezing cold; carefully Ichigo stood up, hissing as the cold air hit his skin, creeping over to where his best friend lay. He draped the blanket over him, climbing beneath it again, pressing their bodies together for warmth.

\------------------------

“I-Ichigo!?” stuttered Grimmjow when he awoke to find Ichigo pressed up against him, an arm slung over his shoulder, “What’re you...?”

“Grimmjow... sorry... you were shivering...”

“Well I’m fine now,” he was informed as Grimmjow quickly distanced himself again, scooting over to the other side of the room.

A veil of awkwardness fell over the room once more.

Grimmjow didn’t know what to do, he and Ichigo had been camping before and done the same thing, but things were different now. All the same, Grimmjow was touched; that must have been awkward for Ichigo too, yet he manned up so that they were both warm...

“I don’t know.”

Ichigo looked up surprised, “You don’t know...?” he asked, _What the hell does that mean?_

“You wanna’ talk? Fine. You wanna’ know why I... with you... well I don’t know, I have no God damned idea, and I wish I did, but I don’t.”

“...Spur of the moment... I get it. I really do, Grimm, but... what do you wanna’ do?” he asked, relieved that his friend was ready to talk, “I mean okay, you’re not gay, I’ve always known that... so what now? We pretend it never happened?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

“Except that... I don’t know... if I can stop feeling like this. I don’t mean to, but I don’t think I can just stop by... pretending it didn’t happen... and so things won’t go back the way they were. They _can’t_ go back to the way they were.”

“We can forget about it-”

“Can we!? Are you so sure about that!?”

Grimmjow grit his teeth in irritation, “Are you so sure we _can’t_!?”

“Yes! I’m pretty fucking sure! Because I know you, and I know me!” he retorted, voice raising as he pushed away from the ground.

Grimmjow joined him, moving to get in his face, “You’re my best friend, Ichigo! Are you really just gonna’ let that go without even trying!? Do you really think it isn’t worth the effort!?”

“It’s a wasted effort!” yelled back Ichigo, stepping closer as well.

“So we should just give up!?”

“No! I didn’t say that!”

“It sounded to me like you _did_ say that!”

“Well I didn’t!” The two weren’t a centimetre apart, glaring at each other, eyes bright.

“Then what _did_ you say!? What _did_ you mean!?” Grimmjow demanded, fury rushing through him as he shoved his friend against the wall, forearm against his chest, eyes meeting equally hot eyes.

They both froze, shock hitting the red head like a tonne of bricks when something jabbed into Ichigo’s thigh, “Grimmjow...? Are you...?”

He swallowed harshly, eyes trailing down to rest on the tented fabric at Grimmjow’s crotch.

Mortification became Grimmjow as he tried to jump back, Ichigo grabbing his arm to stop him, face bright red at being found out a second time.

“Grimmjow... is it... that maybe you...” Ichigo gulped, blush over his own face, “I mean the last time too... we were fighting... do you...”

“Ichigo this isn’t-”

“Maybe like it rough...?” Ichigo finished, looking up into Grimmjow’s face but not meeting his eyes.

Grimmjow could only stand there, still caught in Ichigo’s unrelenting grip, face red with humiliation; he had no answer for the boy, what could he say? The normal Ichigo did nothing for him, but the second he got angry the blood rushed to his groin?

Grimmjow bowed his head, fragments of half-hearted protests falling from his mouth, eyebrows twitching, mouth hanging open.

The silence grew to be too much, Ichigo let go of his friend, backing off, though he could only take a single step back before he met the wall; he had to fight not to kiss his friend, the expression on his face so undecided. That undecidedness was what gave Ichigo such a painful hope: It wasn’t a straight forward no.

Under the pressure of controlling his urges, Ichigo’s face contorted, eyes hooding with lust, a primal need reflected in his eyes.

Grimmjow broke. He relented his refusal, closing the small gap between them, pushing his wide eyed friend against the wall once more.

“Ichigo... you’re gay right?” he asked, leaning in nervously, “Then you won’t mind... if I...”

 He leant in, kissing the orange haired boy with lightly trembling lips, surprised when Ichigo let go of his control, kissing back with a passion. He had known that Ichigo liked him, but he wasn’t prepared for the need that surged through the kiss.

They once again found themselves in a duel, relieved and forceful, tongues sliding against each other, Grimmjow gasping into the other’s mouth when Ichigo slipped his hand beneath the waistband of his jeans, wrapping around his erection.

“Ichigo,” he growled, sending shivers down the other’s spine. Deftly he slipped his hands beneath Ichigo’s shirt, sliding it over his head and throwing it to the ground, purring with satisfaction when Ichigo did the same to his. They struggled with each other’s belts, plucking the buttons undone, hastily pulling the zippers down.

They were overcome with a desperate need to be connected; the second Grimmjow had relented, their end had been decided.

“Ichigo... what you said before... about my maybe... liking it... rough...” mumbled Grimmjow, blushing.

“I’m a man Grimmjow, you don’t need to be gentle,” he assured his friend, shuddering at the look that passed over his face. He looked like the Devil himself.

“Ah!” gasped Ichigo as Grimmjow slid a hand to press against his opening, two fingers pushing past the first ring of muscle, “G-Grimmjow! Wait! ...In the basket...”

The blue haired boy gave a grunt of understanding, reaching back to rifle through the sandwiches, pulling out the small bottle of lotion, irritation sparking in his mind as he realised this was all going according to someone’s plan. He let that thought go, opting to squeeze the lotion into his hand instead, rubbing it along his length, “Ichigo... ...?”

The unspoken question hung in the air... Grimmjow didn’t want to use his fingers at all. The orange haired boy blanched, but regained his composure, forcing a smile, “I already said you don’t need to be gentle.”

 Their pants bunched around their ankles, Grimmjow grinding his erection into Ichigo’s holding them together before pulling away, lining himself up against Ichigo’s entrance.

He pushed inside, the shorter boy clinging to his neck, eyes scrunched closed.

Pain shot through his body as Grimmjow pushed inside, a scream tearing from his lips, silenced by his hand clamping over his mouth.

“Grimmjow...” he groaned, an intense pleasure mixing with the pain, pushing their lips together in another battle, tongues parrying as teeth clashed.

Without warning Grimmjow began to move, thrusting strong at the very start; he reached down to grip his friend’s length, jerking roughly along the engorged flesh.

They could taste blood, the tangy coppery taste mixing with saliva; neither knew who it belonged to, it could have been either, it could have been both.

Ichigo moaned Grimmjow’s name into his mouth, the word muffled by the kiss. With each thrust he was pushed harder and harder against the cold wall, flesh scraping painfully against stone, body jerking as Grimmjow thrust over and over, grunting in exertion.

Ichigo spasmed as his prostate was hit, a lewd moan filling the room, bringing an amused smile to Grimmjow’s lips.

The red head scowled into the kiss. Why was he the only one making those sounds?

He clenched tightly around his friend, grinning cheekily when the boy’s breathing caught, a fractured moan dying in his throat.

“Ichigo” he mumbled breathily, nearing the end of his rope, the intense heat becoming too much to bare, “Ichigo...”

He pushed a hand against the wall, fingers curling into it, the other hand digging into Ichigo’s waist. He thrust aggressively into Ichigo once more, shuddering with euphoria as he released into his friend, mind vaguely registering through the haze a warm splatter over his stomach as Ichigo reached his own orgasm.

The small room was filled with sounds of ecstasy as the two stopped moving, leaning heavily against each other, shivering at the cold that radiated from the walls.

Unsteadily Grimmjow pulled away, sliding out as he made his way to the blanket, laying it out on the floor and pulling Ichigo down with him.

They huddled together, the blanket protecting them from the chilly floor, limbs entwined.

They lay there in silence, enjoying each other’s body heat through the afterglow, both minds somewhere else, one filled with worry and anticipation, the other lost in a sea of not so distant memories.

\-----------------------

“But didn’t you say two days?” asked Nel, confused as they made their way to the cellar.

“Two days if they don’t make up, but we’ve gotta check on them to make sure they haven’t killed each other or something,” answered Nnoitra as he silently stuck the key into the lock, undoing it with a click.

He peeled a door back, Nel squeezing beside him to look into the dark room, making out two sleeping figures as their eyes slowly adjusted, speechless as they realised they were naked in each other’s arms.

The sleeping pair groaned their annoyance as the sunlight washed over them, shielding their eyes.

“What...?” mumbled Grimmjow, freezing as he realised what was happening.

“Sorry for waking you!” called Nnoitra from above, a devilish smile painted across his face, “we’ll just leave the door unlocked then!”

“Good job on making up!” called Nel from beside him, giggling unrestrainedly.

They dropped the pair’s phones on the top step before closing the door on the two mortified boys, laughing with each other as they walked away.

Nel cut off as she remembered who she was laughing with, coughing awkwardly before giving in with a sigh, “... I still don’t like you... but... tha...thankyou for helping them...”

Nnoitra smiled his wide smile, waving as he walked away wordlessly. Of course Nel didn’t like him, but she didn’t hate him quite so much anymore.

Thus the truce was ended, the hate continuing in a slightly softer form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a comment about how this sort of ended the way their first night together ended, and that nothing was actually resolved I finally decided to write an ending chapter, rounding things off properly. It’s not very long but it should do the trick :) A fifth chapter is yet to come!
> 
> So yeah, anyway, my third chapter was predictable and out of character, so I thought I’d make up for that with this last one, and hopefully I’ve succeeded in ending it well! I’m not so sure about it all, but I’m happier with it than the third chapter.
> 
> Please review, I reply to all reviews and PMs!
> 
> I hope that you all enjoyed this, please do let me know what you think, even if you didn’t like it. :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

“Are you kidding me? Are you fucking _kidding_ me!? Screamed Nnoitra, manic, his thin face, curved into an expression of sincere disbelief.

They sat alone in Nnoitra’s room, Grimmjow seeking advice

“...I... ... ...” Grimmjow attempted, letting his explanation die. The room was silent, but the atmosphere had changed from inviting and conspiratorial to downright dangerous. Nnoitra stood with his hands clenched, eyes lowered as his body trembled with the effort of staying calm. Well, as calm as possible given the circumstances.

“You’re telling me, that after all the scheming and effort Nel and I put into getting you two together... YOU DID THE SAME FUCKING THING AS BEFORE!? AND NOW THINGS ARE FUCKING _AWKWARD_ AGAIN!?” he demanded fiercely, fury and frustration waring for the main pedestal.

Grimmjow’s temper flared at this, “What? You think that just because you want something to happen, it’s _going_ to!? You think I _want_ things to be awkward between me and Ichigo? ‘Cos I don’t! But that doesn’t give you the right to be angry! The fuck is your problem!?” roared Grimmjow back, standing up from his seat as he too clenched his fists.

Nnoitra took a few deep breaths, chest heaving as he reined his temper in, running a hand over his face as he sat.

“Grimmjow, I’m not angry because what I wanted didn’t happen. I’m angry because it’s _you_ being difficult.”

“The fu-”

“Because _you_ are the only thing keeping this from working! _You_ are the one standing in the way of your happiness! _You_ are the one _complaining_ to me about it! Yet _you_ love Ichigo more than he loves you!”

“...The fuck does that mean? I love Ichigo more than he loves me!?”

“Are you an idiot!?” asked Nnoitra hotly, “Ichigo really, really likes you Grimmjow, but you _love_ him. Any idiot can see that. So why is it _you_ that’s saying no? Are you too proud? Because so sort of crossed that bridge when you slept with him. Twice. You don’t want to lose him as a friend? Because you’re gonna if you don’t sort this shit out! Because you’re scared of what it involves? Newsflash! YOU SLEPT WITH HIM TWICE!”

“Would you stop saying that!”

“Why? You gonna’ pretend it didn’t happen? Because that worked SO well the first time!”

“Shut the fuck up, Nnoitra! Whata YOU suggest I do? Give Ichi a big kiss and tell him I love him? Go _out_ with him!?”

Nnoitra didn’t answer, his silence said it all, eyes steady as they stared at Grimmjow’s.

Grimmjow reached two large hands to his face, running them other the tired skin and through his hair, leaving them there as he sat with his head in his hands. He didn’t know what to say. Nnoitra’s yelling and blaming him was pissing him off. The only thing keeping Grimmjow from punching the tall man was that he hadn’t yet spoken a false word.

“Grimmjow...fuck, look, you know what? I’m sorry. I’m sorry I yelled at you, and I’m sorry you can’t see I’m right, but-”

“I can see...” mumbled Grimmjow, throat tightening, face crumpling in defeat, still hidden his hands.

“...you can see? That I’m right? You agree?” he asked carefully.

The blue head nodded, it’s owner still refusing to make eye contact.

“Then why haven’t you done something about it? If you know all that, why are you sitting here like a goddamned retard?” he asked gently, kinder than the words would lead one to believe.

“Because you’re _still_ right, even now...”

“...?”

Grimmjow huffed a soft laugh, his laughter picking up, becoming more and more manic until Nnoitra wasn’t sure if he truly was laughing, or whether he was actually crying, his head still hidden beneath his fingers.

Suddenly he looked up, revealing a wide toothy grin to his shocked friend, “Because I’m a goddamned retard.”

He shot up from the bed, suddenly full of vigour, embracing his tall friend quickly as he skipped through the door with glee, leaving Nnoitra alone in the room without a clue as to what had happened, and only an instinct that it was for the better.

\-----------------------------------

Grimmjow burst through his dorm room door, startling Nel and Ichigo who were sitting on the floor, deep in an apparently serious conversation, most probably along the lines of his and Nnoitra’s.

Both shot to their feet, surprise masking their features.

“Grimmjow? What’re you-?”

“Nel, I need you to leave,” stated Grimmjow as he grabbed the busty girl’s arm, pulling her towards the doorway and pushing her into the hallway, closing the door in the shocked girl’s face, and locking it.

“Oi! Grimmjow! What the hell’re you-?” Ichigo was cut off by Grimmjow lips. The taller youth wrapped his arms around a very surprised redhead, pulling his friend close.

Ichigo recovered from his shock slowly but surely and kissed back, his own hands entwining in the blue hair, opening his mouth into the kiss.

Grimmjow responded unhesitant, mind made up as he slid his tongue into Ichigo’s mouth, gratified by the low moan that Ichigo gave. The slick muscles slid over each other, it was no battle, but a dance, firm but gentle as they explored each other with romance, rather than lust.

When their lips parted they remained in each other’s arms, Ichigo leaning his head against Grimmjow’s neck, forcing himself to believe what had just happened.

“Grimmjow... does this mean...” said Ichigo, breaking the silence as he looked into the tall man’s eyes, “that you’re okay with... this...”

“...It means... that I’ve stopped being an idiot.” Answered Grimmjow after a while, mind finally at ease with his decision.

\---------------

When the boys finally parted, settling in for some serious conversation, Nel tore her ear away from the door, having heard enough to satisfy her curiosity.

She held down a giggle as she walked away, breaking into a skip as he made her way to Nnoitra’s dorm. She may not like the guy, but she had to admit, sometimes that manipulative side of his could be one hell of a good thing. Sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!
> 
> So, no I don’t mean he manipulated Grimmjow, just that he sort of had a way with words...
> 
> Anyway, I hope this ending is liked a bit better, do tell me which you prefer: the ending of chapter 4, or the ending of chapter 5?
> 
> Please tell me what you think, review because I always reply, I accept requests, yadayada, you know the drill ^_^
> 
> Thanks for all who read, reviewed, favourited, and followed. I love you all, please trust me when I say you’ve lifted my spirits and kept me writing. :)
> 
> This last chapter was written January 2013.

**Author's Note:**

> Written in December 2012, but I think I finished the last chapter in January 2013.
> 
> I'm happy with how this is working so far... though I don't know how Grimmjow's kiss worked as a prank yet... Don't worry, yaoi shall ensue. (It always does when I'm writing)
> 
> Anyway, please review, I always reply! And I appreciate positive AND negative feedback.
> 
> Please make sure to add this to your story alert if you liked it! (Does this site have Story Alerts...?)
> 
> Thanks for reading! :D


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